Hidden in my Blood
by darknesspirals
Summary: Kisu is a bloodemon, something frowned upon by the powers that be. When fate throws her in the detectives’ way and they take her into custody, her entire life is rearranged. With friends for the first time ever, will the past come back to ruin it all?
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer:** Unfortunately, this is merely a fanfiction, not a reality. If this was a reality, I would be very, very happy, though only if I could chose which one of my characters I got to become and which character I got to hook up with. Let me just say that Yu Yu Hakusho is one of the coolest anime shows out there, in my opinion, but, also unfortunately, I own no part of the show or any of its characters in any way shape or form. If I owned Yu Yu Hakusho, in particular a certain little fire demon named Hiei, I wouldn't be sitting around wasting time writing about possible Hiei fluff, I'd be out acting it out wink wink Ack! hides from angry mob as they throw smoldering sticks at my head puppy dog eyes I can have my dreams, even if Hiei doesn't like fluff. happy Besides, I have ways of convincing him to participate. What are they, all you Hiei fans ask? Well, you'll just have to read my piece of crap story to find out, now won't you…

**Prologue**

**Kisu…**

_Kisu. Kisuko Tanira. That is the label of everything I hate. If I could say that this was not going to be a tale of self-hate, self-deception, of being too dense to see the truth…_

A girl thrashed in her bed, deep asleep and in the throes of a nightmare. The tangled sheets became the imagined hands that tried to throttle her.

_…then I would…_

She gave a strangled cry of fury, and lashed out with a strength hidden by her slim arms. The sheets ripped and she landed painfully on the floor, immediately curling into a tight ball. She remained still, hair drenched by a cold sweat.

_…but I can't… to say that it wasn't would be lying. I am what I am, and I hate it. Half blood demon, from my full-blooded mother, and a quarter human, quarter shape shifter from my ignorant father. Even after having a daughter he doesn't know about his own heritage… He's too dense, and my mother was to good at hiding what she was…_

The girl's back suddenly bent in remembered pain. She whimpered softly as invisible fists pummeled her prone form before biting her lip hard enough to draw blood, to stop herself from making another sound. Even in sleep she refused to show any more pain than was strictly necessary.

_I lived with my mother and her tribe in the Makai until the age of eight. In that time I learned more about fighting, pain, and betrayal than most humans do in a lifetime. My first lesson was, and remains, the most painful. My mother was always forced to choose between the continuation of her life among the people of her tribe, and the protection of me, her daughter…_

The girl began to thrash again as the dream beating intensified, and reached out straining arms to an unseen figure…

_And she chose _them _over _me_ every single time, until the day it looked like they were finally going to kill me and put me out of my misery. Even then I wanted to die, longed to die. But suicide would have been, and still would be, admitting that I am weak and that all of their twisted affections affected me more than I ever let on…_

She stopped. Her eyes opened, yet remained dry, despite the pain hidden in their depths. She sat up and let her arms drop back into her lap. And then stared at a point on the floor, seeing a scene that had long since played itself out, but continued to repeat itself within the confines of her mind. An image of her mother's severed head rolled towards her across her bedroom floor, and the woman's final scream rang, fading, in her ears, while the girl watched, unable to do anything to stop it.

_And then she paid the ultimate price to save me. If she'd known what would happen that day… when she finally spoke out against my treatment… when she finally said maybe they shouldn't be quite so harsh... had she known that they would turn from my torture to hers with such ghoulish grins stretched across their faces… then I doubt that she would have interfered, even at the cost of a slightly guilty conscious… because that would have been all that my mother, my would-be, should-have-been protector, would have felt…_

She stared at the ground blankly for a moment, then blinked, and visibly pulled herself back together. Not that there was anyone there to see or care, no one to witness her momentary loss of control, the momentary lowering of mental and emotional shields… And she had been careful to keep it that way, never allowing anyone to reach helpful fingers into her wounded core. She wearily hauled herself to her feet, absently rubbing a hand across dry cheeks as though wiping away the imaginary, unshed tears.

_They hadn't even really cared which one of us died. They hadn't cared which one of us lived, and which one of us was left to be tortured further. They wanted to cause pain, and they knew that the death of one would hurt the other. They were right, but where my mother would have felt a pinprick I had a gapping hole._

She leaned heavily against the black wall, and then staggered across the room to the adjoined bathroom, deftly avoiding the boxes and piles of junk that she had yet to unpack into this new room.

_That day, as I lay in the dirt to weak to move, and watched as they forced her to the ground so they could hack at her neck with a dull blade, I blamed myself. I blamed myself for being too weak, too young, to retaliate, to save her. For being weak enough to myself be hurt, to potentially be killed…_

She stood in the doorway of the bathroom, fingers making dents in the doorjamb, and flipped the lights on. She squinted; her sensitive eyes burned in response to the blinding white walls now illuminated by an equally blinding light, and then clutched her stomach as it suddenly churned. She collapsed next to the toilet and puked up the remnants of the previous night's supper.

_…but I also blamed her…_

She again pulled herself to her feet, wiping her mouth with the back of a hand, and reached across the sink to the medicine cabinet to pull out a pair of pill bottles.

_…because it was her fault, not mine, that she fell in love with an idiotic prick who dumped her when he found out she was pregnant. I'm the result, not the instigator of that mistake. And it was her fault that she crawled back to the bigoted bastards that spawned her a heartbroken mess, instead of standing up straight and brushing it off like they expected her to. It was her fault she didn't return showing the expected response, therefore damning herself forevermore in their eyes, another reason they weren't as slow as they could have been to grab at an opportunity to be rid of her. It's not my fault, either, that I've always been stronger than her, stronger than her in all ways since the day I was born. Or that I've always been able to withstand the torture and tests of character that the tribes constantly dole out like candy, presents to be hoped for, better than she…_

The girl walked back into her room, the most recent in a line of many that she had painted black, more awake now, recovering from her nightmare. She studied the bottles in her hand, not for the first time, as she made her way towards the mini fridge she had placed on the desk in the corner of the room.

_…and back to the point of this little flashback…_

_I lay there, unable to move, face to face with her dead head, lying in her spreading, cooling blood. The others laughed at the final demise of the weakest member of their tribe, weaker even than the bastard mixed blood that she had birthed. And then they gathered around me, eagerly awaiting my response to this new development in my already tragically inclined life. And, having lived with these creatures for the better part of my short existence, I knew that if I was to show any weakness, emotional or physical, despite what I had just witnessed and been put through before that, that they would gleefully fall on me as well, and use it as an excuse to execute me as they had my mother minutes before. I was not about to give them that chance. _

_So, because I really had no choice, I gathered all of my little remaining strength and pulled myself painfully upright. And then, when I stood as straight as someone with multiple deep tissue bruises, a fractured kneecap, a broken arm, and three cracked ribs can, all this time refusing to let any emotion, let alone pain, cross my face, I tilted my head so that I could look disdainfully down my nose at my mother's corpse, and then spit on her remains._

_Therefore, at the cost of the death of the last part of my eight-year-old soul, or maybe just the very deep burying of it, I snuffed out my will to live. I buried that part of me that allowed me to hold out some sense of hope, for a partner…not necessarily a lover, I was too young for that…a friend, someone that I could compare to, talk to, trust…the hope of finding someone that meant something to me, and I meant something to. I did this to unsure that I would live, knowing that my life would never be ended by my own hand, despite the temptation presented by that solution. Because that would be succumbing to yet another of their evil pressures. _

_I was assured that I would be allowed to live until the age of at least fifty by the tribe elder, and, because I was now without a guardian that lived within the tribe, that I would be assigned one. It would be up to them to see to my care until that age, at which time the elder would reconsider my status and standing as a member of the tribe. But, I was also given the option of choosing to go live with my father, however unfit a guardian he might be considered. The elder made his opinion very clear on this. My father was an unfit guardian because he was not a tribe member, and, even though I was only part blood demon and not worth more to them than the scum on the bottom of a pond, I still carried some of the tribes' most sacred substance, which, of course, is blood. Though, it was also that same reason, that same substance, that allowed me that option. He was my blood relative, and that is, at times, one of the most powerful connections you could sport among 'my' people. _

_I stayed with them long enough for my external wounds to heal, for them to begin to tire of me, to them to be willing to let me go…and then I left…_

She stood in front of the fridge for a moment, then reached forward, yanked the door open, and grabbed the single bottle remaining in it. She pushed it closed with her elbow as she turned around and drifted back to her bed. She held the pills in one hand, and this new bottle in the other. The bottle contained a thick, red liquid, marked O positive. She looked despairingly between the two as she jumped back onto her bed, and some feeling began to leak back into her empty eyes for the first time since she had woken up. She looked at the curse of her existence, the thing she longed for, craved, needed to survive, yet despised and was revolted by, and then threw it to the floor with a bestial growl and snarl, where it smashed and began to soak into the charcoal gray carpet.

_They grew bored of me, and that had been my plan. One of the few good things about living with them had been that it taught me the art of deceit, planning, and tricking people into giving me what I wanted. All were required skills if you wished to survive in their village, though mostly it was so you could recognize the actions in others when they used them on you, and successfully deflect some of the intended damage. _

_I was a play toy that had lost its luster, to everyone but the one, particularly annoying tribe member that had been assigned the task of my guardianship. The fun in torturing a victim who refuses to respond fades quickly, something I had observed over the years. So I began to shut off all of my emotions, and force all of my many mental wounds, if not to heal, then to scab over so thickly that barely anything could reopen them. I suppose I'm mentally advanced for my age, downright ancient compared to most humans, but this was something that my childlike plan for survival had deemed essential early on. I had been convinced that there was nothing useful about emotions, and that I should therefore make every effort to dispose of them. Before this there had not been a reason strong enough, dire enough, to give me the strength to do it though. There was no reason to vanquish my greatest weakness, to lend me the power of mind and resolution. But now there was, because I wanted nothing more than to escape from their grasp. _

_I was no fun to mess with when I had no reachable weak spots, so everyone slowly began to leave me alone, to forget about me. I started to become part of the scenery, to just exist. I went to the elders and petitioned to be allowed to go live with my father, obviously under an oath of silence and secrecy, pertaining to the three worlds, and the existence of the Youkai, especially the Blood Tribes. They agreed, and sent me on my way, six months after my mother's death, but not before imparting one final horror…_

She sighed, anger already gone, and slipped off the bed again, grabbing the pill bottles on her way, already regretting her impulsive action. Disgusting was the nice way to describe the taste of long dead, bottled blood, but even as she cursed the substance, she knew she needed it to function, and would feel the affects of her lack of food tomorrow, by way of hunger, energy, and pissy attitude. She was fine now, but that was because she was still half-asleep. Tomorrow would be a different story. She would be like a coffee addict that hadn't gotten their morning caffeine boost, except worse, because it would last all day whether she drank her morning coffee or not. Not that she even liked coffee, in her opinion it tasted like dirty water. And tomorrow would be her first day in her new school, in another new town, where she didn't know a soul. Joyous. She decided then that she would take advantage of the time she would have before first-bell, which didn't ring until 9:00, and spend the morning checking out her new blood supplier. She walked back across the room, disregarding the shards of glass in the carpet. Physical pain wasn't that difficult to deal with. Hell, it was barely noticeable…

_They took away the two freedoms I actually cared about…_

She grabbed a towel and tossed it onto the wet splotch, and patted it down with her foot. No matter what she did it was going to stain her new carpet, so why bother? She would just buy some cheap stain remover products tomorrow and hope for the best. Maybe while she was out looking for her contact's hideout? She wasn't all that sure where it was located. Besides, wasn't that her usual plan of action? Going with it, or for it, and letting things turn out the way they wanted? It meant less stress over friends and grades, at least. If she didn't have care, or have any, how could failure in those categories bother her? She reentered the overly bright bathroom and grabbed the cup she kept on the counter. Filling it with water first, she gently set it so she could fumble with the lids of the pill bottles she had yet to open.

_They told me that, while living outside of the tribe, I was not allowed to hunt for live blood. I was only allowed to feed on blood of the bottled variety, purchased from demons that for some reason thought blood would be in high demand in Ningenkai. Hey, it's not my spot to question, just to be thankful I don't usually have to go out of my way to find a food source. And it's not like I want to do anything besides that anyway. It's more that, despite everything I've been through, or because of everything I've been through, I react badly to attempts to undermine my independence. This? This doesn't even really bother me. Irks me, yes. But bother? No. It's the other demand they placed on me that pisses me off. It makes me want to rip the heads off of that pompous assed freak every single day, and watch his life blood slowly pump from his throat as he dies. Besides, this first demand is one I would have followed anyway, even if they hadn't said I would be violating my part in the agreement that allowed me to escape from them. I would have followed this whether they demanded it or not, because of a certain little Reikai rule that says feeding off of a human is illegal, and, with enough offenses, punishable by death. Fun, fun. I think I'll pass._

The lid finally popped off and she shook two Motrin into her hand. She swallowed them with a sip of the water and hoped that, for once, they would actually do their job and cure her headache, or, more accurately, the headache and discomfort that she would soon be experiencing.

_As I said earlier, I am also a shape shifter, though not in the traditional sense that people think of. I don't change into an animal. I can't. Some of the pure shape shifters probably can, but the side affect of having a rather mixed background is that I don't have enough power. I don't have enough strength or skill, and have no one to teach me how to use this part of me any better than I have taught myself. Hanyous almost always develop the same abilities as the rest of their species, although usually weaker and less defined. There are also the rare few that are twice as powerful, or even more than that, than anyone in either of his or her lineages. I'm guessing that we who have human blood aren't quite so lucky. Though not knowing any other demons, or even any humans with distant demon ancestors, except for my father, it's a little hard to tell. But I'm thinking that the human blood dampens everything, considering that I haven't developed the majority of the most basic of the abilities most of the Blood Tribes members possess. I also don't know how it will affect my aging, considering most demons grow at a human rate until the age of 16 or 17 and then stop, and since I'm only 15,it will take a few years to figure it out if this still applies to me or not. So, will I be young forever, and only die when fate decides to wield her hand and bring into play an unnatural death for me? Or will I age like a human, and be past my prime, weakening, by the time the tribes' people are willing to look at me again? Does it matter? No. _

_My shape shifter abilities are limited to changing any part of my physical appearance, to a degree. I can change my skin tone, eye color and shape, hair length, color, texture, facial structure, and make slight changes to my physical frame. The elders' second demand didn't restrain any of that; it just forbid me to ever 'wear' my natural form, to ever again let my concentration drift entirely from the maintenance of a physical shield. It had something to do with not being worthy of my ancestry until they decided I was. Who says I even want to be part of their little exclusive club anyway? _

_They did the brunt of the work to establish the containment/form I would wear, which would prevent me from letting all illusions drop completely. I was too young to know how, or to learn, even if they had wanted to teach me, which they didn't. They gave me pills that would keep most of it in place, so that I wouldn't constantly be drained by the effort of maintaining such a complex image. And now the only time I feel drained is right after ingesting one of the pills, or when I've forgotten to take them for an extended amount of time. I suspect they also found a way to bind a portion of my energy and abilities so that I'm unable to access them. That might be a more probable theory than my ideas about the dampening qualities of human blood._

She opened the other bottle now, and stuck a finger into it to pull out a single pill. She held it up to the light, close to her face, and studied it for what must have been the millionth time, as she tried to discover what was in it, and what made them such a successful binding force. She closed her eyes and sniffed, glad that she had always been allowed to keep her extra sensitive senses…i.e. hearing, sight, smell, touch, and the ability to sense reiki…and was met by the familiar smell of unknown herbs. Some less poisonous sub-species of demonsbane was probably a key component of the mix, though there was also a faint residue of youki that made her think the effect the pills caused had been achieved more through chants cast by village herb masters than the actual herbs. The pill's appearance was unobtrusive, in fact it looked like a very large vitamin, but she knew better. She popped it in her mouth, quickly washing it down with a good portion of the remaining water in the cup, firmly placing a hand on the edge of the counter top.

_They send me more of these lovely little baubles every month. They used to send me cases of blood every week too, but that stopped when I turned thirteen. Apparently my guardian deemed I was old enough to find and pay for it on my own at that age, and let me tell you, blood doesn't come cheap. Being left to provide myself with a supply means that I sometimes find myself without nourishment, either because I forgot to go pick it up, didn't have enough cash that week, had just moved and therefore didn't have a new source to buy from, or hadn't gotten around to checking if the source was fairly legitimate…or more likely, what the chances are of the operation being busted anytime soon, since very few of the sources I have used have had the ruler of the spirit world's approval._

Nothing happened for a few moments, and then she almost face-planted it as all the muscles in her body went limp, then tensed in pain as the invisible, yet familiar chains of foreign youki tightened around her essence. Her back arched and she panted as she felt knots tighten. The slack that had developed in her restraints over the last couple of days was eaten up, and she again experienced the sensation of a sharpening of her features, a sense that her form was taking on a crisper edge, as abilities and forms were blocked and hidden as though they had never existed, and her natural energy was forced deep inside her center. The pain stopped as suddenly as it had started, and she almost fell over backwards with the force of the lightheadedness she was now experiencing, feeling as though she had just willingly stepped into an over-tight corset. If she didn't know better, she would have sworn that she could bounce herself up to the ceiling…and brain herself on it. Not a pleasant thought, but she knew better. She also knew that she was going to have a massive headache tomorrow, one of hangover quality, and be intensely hungry. She was seriously wishing that she had controlled that little outburst with the blood earlier so that she could have taken the edge off of it. Due either to genetics or the pills her body refused solid food more often than not, part of the reason for the puking earlier, but also allowed her to live more effectively on the bottled brand than some of her full-blooded relatives might have. That, or she had just never been conditioned to prefer the feeling of someone else's life energy pumping into her mouth and down to her gut over the more detached feeling of drinking the stuff out of the bottle like soda.

She stalked out of the bathroom, scowling, already sinking into a bad mood for tomorrow, as she hit a button on her alarm clock, setting it for 6:00. About to climb into the bed she froze, and suddenly did an about-face as scenes of the nightmare again flashed through her head. She headed back into the bathroom, snatched another bottle from the medicine cabinet, and downed two sleeping pills. After all, her clock still only read 12:30. She wanted to get some more sleep tonight, and this way she was guaranteed to get it, even if it meant she would be even groggier and crankier tomorrow. She just wanted some dreamless sleep…

_So, I live from week to week, hoping my contacts won't have been arrested between one visit and the next, and do my best to just survive, because that's the best any of us should hope for…_

She returned to her bed, dragging the covers up from the floor with her, and slipped into a blissfully drugged sleep.

…_and now you know my basic, tormented background, and the reason I predicted at the beginning of this night that this tale would become a tale of my own stupidity, and blindness, since that's probably what it's been up to this point anyway. That's the way I am. That's just the way I live. That is the way, I, Kisuko, live. I am the girl in this dark room, sleeping a blank dream, hoping for something to come and end this existence for me. I am the being that I hate even more than the ones that made me this way. And, considering that my life has been quiet, quiet for me at least, for the last couple of years…no new tortures, no twists and turns, except for those accidentally forced on me by my clueless father…I'm predicting that I'm in for an adventure, or at least a mildly chaotic time. I mean, why else would I be here, telling you about my past? Why else would you read about my past, however choppy a version of it this may be? And about the adventure, a girl's got the right to dream, right? I get tired of the same old fears, hopes, stresses, day after day, just like all of you. I feel like I'm due for some fresh spice in my life. _

…_but…what would I know about the future? How could I know? Why would I want to know? I couldn't, and I wouldn't want to. I can't…because…I'm still waiting for it to happen…and that's what makes it so exciting…_

_That's why it's the only thing I have left to look forward to._


	2. Chapter One

**Chapter 1**

**Kisu…**

An annoying bleep continued to drive itself deeper and deeper into my subconscious, something that was bothersome on my good days and damn near painful on my worse ones. I assure you, a herb/youki-induced headache does not constitute a good mood. Actually, it makes me quite irritable, unnecessarily violent some say, and most definitely unhelpfully anti-social, especially when I'm supposed to start at a new school today. Especially when I know absolutely zero people in this city, don't know my way around, and have no interest in learning my way, and don't want to be here, or anywhere. Yet, here I am, at another new school, scouting out new a turf, solidifying a new badass reputation despite my…small…size.

I rolled over, pulling the blankets closer and burying my head under a mound of pillows, trying to block out the sound.

Bleh. Stabbity high-pitched noises. They were still poking the backs of my eyeballs with brightly colored lightning rods. Joy.

I rolled over again, this time sitting up, and glared at the clock like that might actually shut it off, while my brain sloshed around inside my skull like the drug-addled mess it was. I sat in my nest of numerous scarlet and black pillows and multiply fluffy blankets, and continued to send my best death glare towards the clock, my eye twitching every time my head throbbed in time with its bleeps. Usually, my death glare is quite a formidable opponent all on its own, even without my violence to back it up, but it's intensity probably wasn't helped any by my sleep-bleared eyes, the fact that I was almost buried up to my neck in blankets, and my three-inch long mouse-brown hair sticking up in sleep-tousled clumps. Yet still, I sat there fully expecting it to cause the clock to implode upon itself, thereby thankfully shutting it up. Right. That isn't even one of my abilities when my body is entirely functional, or at least to my knowledge.

This is why it's not a good thing to take Motrin sleep pills, and…and whatever is in that other pill, all at the same time. Remind me to remember that next time, not that I shouldn't already know it, considering how many times I've done this to myself.

A thought finally forced itself to the surface of my mind, where I might actually become aware of it. You can never tell with me in this state. _Why don't you just go turn it off?_ Duh, brilliant idea, though I could probably have gone about doing it in a better way than I did…

My glare turned into a malicious grin, as though my clock might actually know what was going on, what was about to happen. I pulled my legs under me, hiding my movements from the oblivious clock underneath the blankets. The clock continued it's cheerful tirade on my ears.

My muscles tensed as I attempted to calculate the distance between me and the clock on its bookcase perch, and then I lunged. I pushed off the bed, growling and snarling, but my feet tangled in the mess of blankets I still hadn't taken the moment to disentangle myself from, and my chin collided with the ground, hard, as I fell face first, carried by the momentum of the force I had applied in an attempt to launch myself across the room. I turned onto my back, kicking and snarling, and pried my feet out of the twisted heap of blankets and then began crawling across the room, in an arced path, as though stalking the clock.

Bleep bleep bleep! Stupid thing just kept on going. It was like the energizer bunny, or something.

I stopped a few feet from the bookcase, crouched again, and launched myself at the top of the bookcase, all just a few seconds after getting trapped in my blankets, which turned out to not be a very good idea either. Well, go figure.

I slammed into the bookcase and it rocked back and forth, and then started to fall. My mind registered it, and tried to tell my body, which was a little slow on the uptake. I darted to the side just as it slammed to the ground and all of the books that I had already managed to unpack were strewn across the carpet.

And there it was, the stupid little thing that had awoken me from my lovely sleep, sitting by my foot. The annoying little box with it's flashing lights, lights that were saying it was 6:17 am, way to early to be awake and functioning, not that I was exactly doing either, as is shown by my continued stupid behavior since it woke me up at 6:00.

I picked it up and smiled evilly at the poor, little, melded plastic contraption, and then pressed a button on the top, my higher brain functions finally kicking in. Or so I thought.

The bleeps stopped. I sighed and finally let my shoulders relax for the first time since the damn thing had started going off.

Bleep!

It was starting again! I stared at the thing in my hands, dumbfounded, and then viciously started stabbing at all of the buttons on the top of the clock.

And it stopped! And then started again…

Bleep bleep!

It was like the thing was mocking me! My concentration narrowed to a pinpoint in space, the center of which was my soon-to-be-doomed-if-it-didn't-shut-up clock, and my focus was entirely on doing anything to stop the noise (oh the noise!) regardless of any further possible damage to myself, the clock, or my remaining furniture and belongings.

I stabbed at the buttons harder.

The clock stopped for a second, hesitated, and then let out a plaintive Bleep!

I threw my arms up with an exasperated snarl, clock still in hand, and then turned to the wall and started smashing the clock against it.

"Shut!" Smash.

Bleep!

"UP!" Smash.

Bleep!

"YOU STUPID!" Smash again.

Bleep!

"CLOCK!" Smash. Crunch. Silence. The clocks casing snapped, half of it dangling down on a combination of wires and microchips, the other still in my hand. A satisfied grin began to spread across my face, and I again started to relax. For a grand total of thirty seconds.

Bleep…bleep…bleep…

Sure, it wasn't as loud or obnoxious as before, BUT THE DAMN THING WAS STILL MAKING NOISE!!!

My grin vanished and I dropped the thing to the floor, and began stomping on it fiercely. Stomp stomp stomp stomp!

Bleeeppp……

"ARGH!"

I grabbed a pair of scissors, dropped to the ground next to the clock, and made a motion to start stabbing the thing. Then I thought better of it, turned, grabbed the electrical cord that was feeding power to it, and moved the scissors into position to cut it. Something in my brain clicked. Um…metal plus electricity or touching/cutting with metal equals….

My brain pooped out on me again, there, but I put the scissors down and started following the length of cord, not quite sure why I was doing it.

Bleeeppp…… I moved away from the annoying sound. If I could just make it stop I would be able to think so much easier….

I followed the cord, and then, found it plugged into a wall socket?

I know, obvious conclusion, but give me a break. I'm drugged up and the bleeping is much more annoying that I'm making it out to be. And much more painful. I rubbed my temples, trying to remember what made finding the plug such a wonderful thing, knowing perfectly well that I was being extremely pathetic.

I touched it and a little shock ran up my arm. My eyes flashed.

"Take that you stupid plug!" I yanked on it and it popped out of the wall. I stared at the plug and cord that I was now holding in my hands, vaguely satisfied, and then noticed something.

Silence.

I dropped the cord, and stood, still tense, refusing to let the crafty clock trick me into relaxing again just to it could start its painful poking again.

I inched closer to the mess of plastic that was left of the clock, and poked it with my toe, realizing that it was probably something that I would probably want to replace before tomorrow. It didn't move, which is to be expected, I realized as my brain began to warm up to a more normal activity level. More importantly, it _remained_ silent.

A small smile started at my lips, then, as the silence continued, to grow, until I started to giggle. Now that the incessant noise had stopped I was beginning to finally wake up, the effects of the sleep pills from last night beginning to wear off, and my brain was finally starting to return to normal, which is why I was now realizing what a retard I had been for the past, it must have been 6:25 or so by now, half hour. And thinking made me wonder why exactly I _was_ up at 6:00, considering that, if I remembered correctly, classes didn't start at this particular school until 9:00. It was also making me curious about why I had taken all those drugs last night, though it was probably only one of a few reasons, considering it was very rare for me to wake up in he middle of the night.

I thought back, trying to remember what time I had even woken up the previous night. A time flashed in my head. _12:30._ Why? _Nightmares…_ I closed my eyes, slightly paler than I had been a moment before, not that it was very easy to differentiate considering the light color I kept it. I opened my eyes just as quickly, not wanting to witness the flashes of memory again that might occur just by summoning the topic to mind. I hadn't had that dream in a long, long, time, but immediately decided that the immense hunger that was sure to follow shortly due to the ingestion of so many anti-toxins, and possibly toxins, at one time, the grogginess I was going to be experiencing for the rest of the day no matter what I did, the killer headache, and bad attitude, even if it was my first day at this school, was a fair price to pay to prevent an encore appearance of this particular memory, especially on the same night as the first showing.

This is when my stomach decided to start its protest. I nearly swooned with the force of the hunger as it washed over me and my stomach growled, demanding that it be fed. All other thoughts were pushed from my mind as my vision flashed red with bloodlust for a moment, before I could get the urge under control again. Even though I'm only partly demon, I still have to work really hard to suppress the animalistic urges that fall on me every now and then. I pushed the desire to kill, to rip out something throat, lap up their blood as they died, as deep down as I could, and then moved to the refrigerator at a rushed walk, avoiding the mess my room was with ease, despite the fact that it was ten times more cluttered than it had been forty minutes ago.

I yank the fridge door open, again, I vaguely recall, and reach my hand in to grab a bottle, head tilted back, eyes closed, fighting to keep this darker part of me carefully contained. My hunger was always worse after taking the stupid pills they had forced on me, and the only thing that slackened the need was blood. If I didn't feed it, it would just get worse until I lost control. Something I had never done and never plan to do. The resulting bloodshed would not be good. I don't even want to know what the possible punishments from the Reikai government might be.

My hand swept around in the fridge wildly, and connected with…nothing. My brow wrinkled in concentration as I reached my hand into the back of the small space, felt around the corners, eyes still closed. Still…nothing. I opened my eyes and dropped down onto my knees so that I was at eye level with the small compartment and was met with…emptiness.

I growled, standing and punching the wall in one fluid motion. And then I stood panting, yet again, trying to get myself back under control, as I stared at the lovely hole I had just made in my wall. White plaster dust trickled from the edge of the hole, a flash of light in a sea black wall. I took a deep breath and pushed it out, forcing myself to calm down, relax, regain control of my emotions. They had been getting the better of me too much lately, and that was something I never let happen. Ever. My emotions are my greatest weakness. Huge weaknesses are not something you parade around, especially when you have lived a life like mine. And if you cannot kill a weakness completely, then you at least hide it so well that no one else can see it.

I had not been doing well at either this morning. I took another breath and dropped into the lotus position as I exhaled it, feeling my body preparing to release its muscle's tension with it.

I had to regain control, grab the reins again before I lost them completely. I closed my eyes. I had to re-gather and center my energy.

But at least I knew why I was up this early now. My hunger intensified briefly, almost to the point where I thought I would lose control of it, and then slackened, as though it had been teasing me, when it realized that it wouldn't be finding a meal within this building, or at least not a meal that I was prepared to let it feed on.

I opened my eyes slowly, and when I was sure that _I_ was back in control I stood and began searching for my school uniform. I spotted a wristwatch half underneath a book. I grabbed it and snapped it onto my wrist. It was one of the ones that has a three-inch wide silver studded leather band and a large, silver, square face. I checked the time. 6:50. Two hours and ten minutes before I had to be at school.

I continued the search for this particular school's uniform. After all, I have numerous uniforms form the various schools I've been to. They all seem to frown upon wearing a different schools uniform. I finally found the pile, which happened to have been conveniently placed on top of the fridge (go figure), containing doll-like black shoes, white knee-highs, a white button-up shirt, and a blue skirt, tie, and blazer. I held the outfit up, assessing how much I was going to dislike this one.

Two hours and ten minutes? That should be plenty of time. I have a contact and supplier to search out.

I grabbed the outfit and headed into the dreaded whiteness of the bathroom to shower and change.

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I know! When does the rest of the gang come in? It's soon. I promise. Review and I can post it faster!


	3. Chapter Two

Nekosune: Thanks! I'm glad you like it. I already have most of this plotted out, but which character do you like best?

The name under the chapter number is whose point of view it's in. Enjoy the chappie!

we finally meet Hiei! wee!

**---------------------------**

**Chapter 2**

**Koenma…**

The ruler of Reikai sat in his office chair, facing away from the desk, watching his surveillance screens. As he heard a door open behind him he pressed a button on the arm of his oversized chair, causing the screen to slide down into the floor.

He waited until he heard the door close and a body drop unceremoniously into one of the puffy, light blue, sofa-like chair that was sitting on the other side of his desk.

Koenma spun his chair around to face the punk that was now sitting across from him. The boy had black hair that was slicked back in a sleek looking style, though undoubtedly would have looked just as good if it had been left down, and handsome features. More often than not, though, anger, boredom, and the occasional flash curiosity were the only emotions ever displayed there. His outfit consisted of a baggy, green street suit and black street shoes. The suit buttoned up the front, but, rather than make him look like a dork, accented his nearly six foot frame and only made him appear more like a street fighter, not less. This was Yusuke Urameshi.

"Nice to see you on time for once, Yusuke." The ruler's voice was a high-pitched squeak. Not out of nerves though. That was just the way he sounded.

Koenma spun his chair around and found Yusuke sprawled across the chair, hands behind his head and eyes closed, a look of boredom pasted on his face. An eye cracked open as Yusuke heard the chair turning and a smile flicked at the corners of his lips before fading as his eye slid shut again

"Right back at ya, binky breath." Yusuke's voice was as loud, obnoxious, and brash as the image his posture sent. "And what's with the chair. I've been meaning to ask you about that. You compensating for something?" The eye opened again, though the look of boredom remained, to gauge the ruler's reaction.

The ruler decided to ignore the remark, to a certain extent, despite the fact that his face had now turned a delicate shade of pink. Shuffling around some papers on his desk so as to look busy, he sent an irritated look in Yusuke's direction. "And that your sense of humor remains intact, though no one would be able to tell, the way you slouch!" He had started the statement dryly, though his tone became considerably angrier for the last part.

Yusuke's comment had been referring to Koenma's appearance. The ruler, though hundreds of years old, and the fifteen-year-old boys senior by centuries, he still sported the body of a four-year-old baby, powder blue binky included. He wore a blue outfit and pill shaped hat, both of which sported a splash of pink; a sash around his waist, and a stripe around the base of the cap. The poor man had the letters 'Jr.' tattooed on his forehead. And the chair. His ghastly yellow chair was at least four times too big for him, if not more, hence the comment about…compensation.

Yusuke chuckled, sat up a little straighter, and then slouched right back down to where he had been. "So. You gonna tell me why I'm here at 6:30 on a Monday morning? I should be home sleeping right now…" He yawned and trailed off.

Koenma glared openly at the boy as his face grew redder and redder. Just as he had scrambled up onto his also gigantic desk, finger pointed, and mouth opening to yell at the obnoxious brat sitting in front of him, the door opened and a herd of people shuffled in, led by a pretty young woman dressed in a pink kimono that matched her eyes and blue hair.

"Hi Koenma! I found all of the other's, but I didn't know where…Oh! Hi Yusuke! What you doing here already? I was trying to find you."

Koenma's anger disappeared in a flash and he jumped back into his chair, the perfect picture of a serious, lets-get-down-to-business, four-year-old baby. "Thank you Botan. If you have other work to attend to you can leave." He raised a questioning eyebrow in her direction.

Ever her perky, bubbly self, Botan placed a finger on the side of her face as though thinking, pink eyes wide open and glowing with constantly flowing, and seldomly suppressed, happiness.

Yusuke finally sat up in the chair and twisted around to glare at her. "Will you quit it with the perky act already Botan? You're giving me a headache." He snarled and continued to send his famous death glare in her direction.

She merely glanced in his direction, annoyed, and returned to what she was doing before. Her eyes suddenly went unfocused, seeing something not in the room for a moment, before her attention returned to the room. She bounced, clapped, and waved her hand in the air, a cheery smile spread across her face. "Thanks Koenma, I think I will. I just got three calls for guides." She giggled. "Looks like it's going to be a busy day." A wooden oar appeared in the air next to her, hovering at the perfect height for her to jump onto. She did, sitting on it sidesaddle style because of her kimono. Koenma nodded to the part time guide of the River Styx and trusted consultant. "Call me later if you need me, Koenma, and good luck with the case guys!" A portal opened in the corner behind her. She kept talking in the same perky voice, despite the insult she was about to deliver. "And Yusuke, just because I'm a woman, smarter than you, and actually do my job, doesn't mean you can insult me." She winked as Yusuke jumped out of his chair, practically foaming at the mouth, hands balled into fists. She just waved a hand in a departing mock-salute and giggled as she flew the oar through the portal. The portal snapped shut with a pop as soon as she was through.

"You…You…! I'm gonna…I'll get you Botan!!" Yusuke stood shaking his fist at the empty wall as a boy a good two feet shorter than him walked past him to the wall nearest the desk. The boy's black hair defied gravity, standing straight up in a spiked style that had been achieved without the use of any gel. A white starburst graced the front of his hair and part of his bangs. A white bandanna was tied tightly around his forehead. He wore a long sleeved black tunic, belted at the waist with a white scarf, black pants, and soft-soled black shoes.

"Hn. Just as articulate as usual, aren't we, detective." Hiei Jaganshi's voice dripped with sarcasm.

Yusuke turned to him, shaking in anger, and again opened his big mouth. "Why don't you go stick that bad ass attitude of yours up your…" He trailed off as Hiei merely leaned against the wall nonchalantly, silver katana blade shining at his waist, and stared levelly at him, waiting for him to finish his sentence.

Yusuke dropped back into his chair, arms crossed, the perfect picture of a sulking teenager. "I hate mornings," he said from between gritted teeth.

"Me too." Another boy dropped in to the chair next to Yusuke, with, if possible, even less grace than Yusuke had shown. He was a few inches over six feet, therefore an inch or so taller than Urameshi. He had bright orange, hair, and had styled it in a way that was very similar to Elvis. It didn't do anything for his appearance. If anything, combined with the blue school uniform he was wearing, it only furthered the look and feel of total idiocy that he was broadcasting. In truth he was only slightly less rude, tactless, and dumb as his appearance led others to believe him to be. Kazuma Kuwabara was the weakest member of this little team.

Yet another boy, this one about Yusuke's height, and with a long mane of somewhat spiky red hair, slid into the chair on the other side of Yusuke, and the one that was nearest Hiei. He showed all of the boneless grace that the other two hopeless ningens had failed to. He sat with his legs slung over one arm of the recliner like chair, and leaned against the other, head propped on one hand as he twirlled a rose in the other. He too wore a school uniform, though his was pink, and trimmed with gold. It suited him much better than Kuwabara's did him. It coordinated with his mid-back length hair, and left his emerald green eyes as a splash of rich color in a sea of red, pink, and ivory skin. Suichi Minamino, when among humans, or more accurately, the reincarnation of the ultimate thief-king, the fox demon Youko Kurama, was as fine an example of a bishonen as you would ever find, and even had his fair share of fangirls when at school.

"Which is why I was so surprised we were able to wake you so quickly this morning, Kuwabara," said Kurama, eyes closed and a contented, lazy, expression on his face, like a fox basking in the sun.

Kuwabara just muttered, "You would get up quick too if Hiei was threatening to poke _you_ with his katana." Yusuke sat back up again and pointed a finger at Kuwabara as he held his stomach and laughed.

"Ha! Now that's something I would have wanted to see. If I'd known that was gonna happen I might have actually risked riding with Botan on that oar of hers this morning!"

He stopped laughing at a particularly nasty glare from Hiei, but was still smiling as he leaned back into his chair again.

"Just wait until it's your turn, Detective."

Yusuke turned his head and smirked at the moody Hiei. "In your dreams. What's another reason you think I didn't get a ride this morning, knowing Botan was picking you up to?"

Hiei just glared at him, and then turned his attention to the red head that was lounging like he hadn't just been woken from a deep sleep and then dragged to the Reikai to participate in a mission that none of them would actually care about. Said red head opened an eye slightly, as he felt Hiei's attention shift to him, and returned the annoyed look he was receiving with one of curiosity and questioning. "Yes Hiei?"

Hiei's frown deepened, as though he was trying to figure something out and it wasn't working, and stated flatly, "What's wrong with you. Your energy feels different."

Kurama flashed a toothy, purely fox grin. "Youko's a morning person. I'm not."

Yusuke shifted in his chair, getting more comfortably. "And that has what to do with anything?"

Kurama merely looked amused, not offended. "He offered to lend me some energy for a while, which I suppose meant part of his personality. Though I have no complaints as of yet, and letting him have some fun will keep him quiet for a while," he said, referring to the demon spirit that was part, yet not part, of him.

Yusuke shrugged, Kurama closed his eyes, and Hiei continued to stare. Kuwabara just looked between the three, utterly confused.

"Ehem." Koenma cleared his throat, irritated, trying to get their attention, again. One curious face, one blank one, and two irritated ones turned to him. "In case you've forgotten, I did call the four of you here for a reason."

Yusuke interrupted. "Then tell us. I want to go back to bed after this."

Koenma sent a quick glare at Yusuke, but then continued on as though he hadn't been interrupted. "First of all, I don't want you two skipping anymore school." This was obviously directed at Yusuke and Kuwabara. Kurama/Suichi was the top of his class and went to a separate school, and Hiei just…didn't. Koenma had had enough trouble finally catching the fire demon and putting him on probation. He figured he could push school some other time.

Yusuke sat up, again, and glared at Koenma, clearly in a what-the-hell-are-you-crazy way, and Kuwabara jumped up and shouted, "What! But school's boring!"

Koenma, again, ignored both responses and, again, continued as though he hadn't been interrupted. "And, if the two of you don't at least pass all of your classes this term I'll have to put _you_ on probation."

Kuwabara was practically frothing at the mouth. Yusuke said, with a disbelieving glare, "And that would mean?"

Koenma folded his hands on the desk in front of him and stated coldly, "You, Yusuke Urameshi, will be confined to clean up assignments, along with Kazuma. Kurama and Hiei will remain on the bigger assignments and take care of those without you until you have brought your grades back up."

"What!!" Now it was Yusuke that was jumping up. "You'd…you'd stick me with that retard on those boring missions!" An indignant 'hey!' was issued by Kuwabara upon the use of the term retard, as it was so obviously being applied to him that even his small brain had been able to catch it. "You must have a death wish, Koenma, 'cause I'm gonna…."

His face fell as Koenma failed to react and merely stared at him. He dropped into his chair again, head in his hands. "Fine, you control freak. I'll talk to Keiko about tutoring me again." He let out a bark of sarcastic laughter. "Is she going to enjoy holding this over my head or what," he said, referring to the girl he had been dating on and off for years, and who had been bugging him about his grades for just as long.

"Hey, but what about me!" Kuwabara had just gotten over his shock, though now directed his anger at Yusuke.

"Shut up and sit down you idiot. I'll talk to her for both of us."

"Hey! I am not an idiot!"

Yusuke lifted his head and glared at him. "Yes you are," he hissed, angry and exasperated. "Now sit down before I make you," he threatened.

Kuwabara opened his mouth to complain some more, but thought better of it, for once, swallowed, and just sat down as Yusuke's glare turned into a death glare, and his body shifted, preparing to launch him at the taller boy and pummel him. He laughed nervously and said, "You've got one nasty death glare, Yusuke."

"Not as nasty as Hiei's though," he responded, letting some of his anger slip away, though he still muttered about mornings and idiotic orange-haired freaks as he leaned into his chair yet again and returned his attention to the smug looking Koenma.

Koenma eyes crinkled in satisfaction as the boys gave him doleful and wary looks, as he raised his arm dramatically into the air, pointer finger extended, in a much better mood than he had been before popping the two punk's hopes of skipping out on school after this. "And now." He plunged his finger down onto the big red button on the arm of his chair. "For your mission!" The huge display screen again began to rise from the floor behind his chair. He pressed another smaller, blue button, on his chair arm and said into the intercom, "Ogre, please bring the case file."

A blue ogre immediately ran into the room with a huge manila folder as an image of downtown Tokyo popped up on the screen.

"This mission is fairly simple. You should be able to complete it well before school starts, considering it's still only…" He glances at the analog clock stuck to his wall. "…7:00, despite the fact that you've managed to waste half an hour…" A meaningful look to Yusuke and Kuwabara. "…and it shouldn't take more than an hour."

"This…" He motioned to the screen behind him and flipped the folder open to the first page. "…is downtown Tokyo." He again looked at the two humans in the group (Kurama doesn't really count, even though he was currently pure human, except for the extra bit of soul he had that was Youko), not sure how much credit he should give them as he phrased this next question. "Do either of you know where this neighborhood is."

Kuwabara immediately sat up and pounded a fist on his chest proudly. "'Course I do. I know Tokyo like the back of my hand!" Koenma disregarded him and waited for Yusuke, who was currently leaning forward to see the screen better with a thoughtful look on his face.

It didn't keep him from distractedly insulting his friend, though. "Right barf-for-brains. Easy translation for those of you who don't speak dickhead. He doesn't have a clue."

"But…" Yusuke leaned back in his chair again and stretched his legs out, folding his hands over his stomach, a satisfied look on his face. "…I do."

Koenma just gave him a look that said 'prove it.' Yusuke managed to look shocked and hurt while still grinning.

"That hurts Koenma, it really does. The streets just around the corner from this sweet little liquor shop I used to visit." He looked thoughtful again. "Haven't been there for a while, though. Maybe I'll stop by after we finish this. The owner usually has some real nice stuff stashed for me…" Koenma gives him a look. Yusuke just shrugs and drops it. "And there's this awesome club at the other end. The broad's there are real friendly there…if you know what I mean." He winked at Koenma. Koenma continued to give him 'the look.' Yusuke shrugged, grin growing wider. "Fine, your loss." He didn't close his eyes again this time though. Koenma had finally, inadvertently, gotten his brain engaged in the activity, which hopefully meant that Koenma would only have to repeat everything once, and that Yusuke might actually follow the directions, instead of going off on some hare-brained tangent like he usually did.

Koenma cleared his throat and continued as the picture changed to a close up of a shabby looking house. "This is the hideout of blood dealer Fraz Endoli. We've been keeping an eye on him for quite a few years now, letting him continue to deal in the area as long as his methods of procuring his supplies remained mainly innocent." He directed the next part at Yusuke. "You recognized the house?" Yusuke shrugged and nodded, eyes intent on the screen.

Koenma continued his imperialistically toned speech. "Which has been true up until recently. We were going to send a regular squad in to shut him down, but we happened to get a lead that might make it a little easier to get some more information on some of the other suppliers as well." Koenma held up the first paper from the folder. "This is him."

Him being a close up of a rat-faced, butt ugly, demon. His skin was a pitted off-gray tone, that, if he had been human, would have implied extremely bad health. His teeth jutted out far over his lips in an extreme over bite, and his hair was a half dredded, knotted mass of slate gray coils. The picture looked like something a surveillance team might have taken, since it was somewhat candid, having caught Fraz mid-snarl.

But Koenma barely paused to wait for their responses before plowing on. "We've intercepted an exchange informing Fraz and another party of the decided meeting time. We believe that Fraz does not know who this possible client is, and we managed to trace it back to this girl." He held up another picture, this one of a pale girl with tightly curling, shoulder length black hair. She used to live in…" Koenma paused as he ruffled through the stack of papers. Finding the one he was looking for he continued. "…Northern Canada. And before that Southern Wales, along with quite a large list of other places before that. Apparently her father is a corporate business manager and is required, by job description, to move a lot." The screen behind him flashed to various locations on the globe as he named them, sometimes showing a house, or the father, but not her again.

Hiei's attention remained focused on the picture that Koenma still held up. "This is the only picture we could find of her. Her name is Kisu Tanira. She's living in upper Tokyo now." The stream of pictures stopped abruptly to show a medium sized house with gray-blue siding and shutters. Koenma put both pictures on the desk and refolded his hands before continuing. Hiei ignored him and slid Kisu's picture off of the desk

She was standing in the middle of sidewalk, pose defiant, as she glared at the camera, unhappy about what was happening, as it took what was so obviously a planned picture. She wore a pair of baggy black pants that sat low on her hips, sneakers, and a long sleeved black-knit top that had been cropped to a couple of inches above her belly button. Her arms were crossed in front of her, and a wooden practice glaive lay at her feet. Hiei scowled at the picture and allowed Koenma's words to filter back into his consciousness.

"Which is why you four will…"

"Why did she want the meeting," Hiei interrupted.

Koenma scowled. "Really Hiei, I just explained that."

Hiei turned his head and met the toddler's eyes, "Just humor me, baby, and explain it again."

Said baby's mouth snapped shut on whatever reply he was going to make as he scowled, gulped, and complied. He crossed his arms and slumped back into his chair, twice as unhappy and irritated now that he had been squashed by one of his own 'employees.' " We believe that she doesn't actually know what she has asked. We haven't ever picked up any unusual energy signatures in the areas she has been in, and we think that she may even be human. If she is a demon, we think that she is probably in a lower ranking class, and possibly, unaware of her lineage." He paused, then growled, "Satisfied?" Hiei ignored him.

"Fine! Than I want all of you out of my office now!" He jabbed yet another button on his chair and a portal opened in the corner opposite from the one Botan had disappeared through, and then jumped up in his chair so that he was standing and leaning forward with both hands flat on the desk. "Apprehend Fraz before 8:00 and intercept Kisu before she can get to his hideout. I want both of them relatively uninjured if they prove more difficult to capture than expected, breathing, and alive in custody." This time his meaningful look was directed at Hiei. "I want them both in good condition for questioning. No. Serious. Harm. Understand?"

"Hn," was Hiei's only reply before he flashed through the portal at a speed to fast to see, tucking the picture into his shirt as he went, leaving behind a quick burst of harsh, condescending youki. Kurama slid from his seat, sending a mock salute in Koenma's direction, still with a more mischievous air about him than usual because of Youko, and then loped through the portal after Hiei, his mix of human rei and youki a smoother, mocking feeling than his typical mysteriousness and bland politeness. Yusuke leaped up next and jumped through the portal with a cocky grin and flash of equally overconfident, completely human reiki. Kuwabara was the last through, kind of sludging along in his own little world, his small brain having shut itself off after the initial blast of information, unable to cope with the processing of such large quantities of knowledge. As the last bit of his dragging, hunched over, drooling form finally disappeared though the portal, and this one, too, snapped shut, there was a nearly tangible haze of general stupidness left in the air.

When he was sure they were finally gone, and not coming back, thank god, he let himself fall back into his chair and his head into his hands, and did what he'd been wanting to do for the last three quarters of the hour, which was massage his aching, throbbing temples.

"Why do I put my self through this?" he muttered through his pacifier.

"Do you actually expect an answer, sir, or are you just talking to yourself again?"

Koenma yelped and jumped to his feet, still standing in his chair, again, to discover it was just Botan, who happened to be stuck half in and half out of the mini portal she had created at the moment.

She just giggled at his reaction. "Mind if I come in?"

Koenma just threw up his hands in exasperation. "Why not, everyone else is!"

She giggled again. "But you forget! You told me to dump the torture on you!" She finally wriggled out of dimension hole, and floated in the air for a second before settling herself on the edge of his desk. Koenma just glared at her.

She answered the non-existent question, unfazed. "Don't blame me, Koenma. You're the one who drafted him to become a Spirit Detective, and you knew very well how obnoxious he was already at that point."

The child-ruler's glare intensified as he muttered, "Go ahead, just rub it in…"

Botan just laughed. "As for the others, at least Yusuke has them to stop him when he gets too thick headed. Think of how many times he would have been killed, again, if Kurama or Hiei hadn't been there to come up with a plan and bail him out."

He dropped the glare, since it obviously wasn't affecting her, and buried his face in his hands again. "I notice you didn't add Kazuma to that list," he stated, voice muffled.

It was her turn to give him a look, before bouncing off the desk to the floor, suddenly slightly more serious, and a little less bubbly than before. "I think we both realized a while ago that the only thing Kazuma has ever contributed to this mismatched team is the ability to be excellent cannon fodder, and a love of kitties."

Koenma lifted his head again, rewarding Botan with a surprised chuckle.

"And I doubt the crew is really as bad as you make them out to be."

"Except for Hiei."

"Yes, except for Hiei. But Yusuke and Kurama will make him lighten up sooner or later."

"No Kazuma?" Koenma said, fighting a smile.

Botan attempted to suppress her constantly overflowing laughter for a moment. "Unfortunately, I believe Hiei would like to do nothing more than chop poor Kuwabara up into itsy, bitsy pieces."

Koenma's response was merely a muttered, "Wouldn't we all."

Botan giggled before tilting her head to the side, listening to something only she could hear. "Must be off! Dead souls are calling. Ring me when they have Fraz." She eyed the mounds of paperwork that were piled on Koenma's desk. "And good luck with al that."

Koenma nodded to her before shouting, "Ogre! Bring me my stamp and ink!"

Botan waved to him with a two-fingered salute, again unable to suppress her constant giggling, opened a portal, and popped through.

Koenma's assistant, the blue-skinned ogre, rushed in carrying the stamp and ink the ruler used to sign papers as the portal snapped shut behind Botan, frantic to please the moody baby.

Koenma grabbed the stamp and started pounding the papers, calling out the numbers as he went as Ogre pulled the already stamped ones off the top of the pile. "One! Two! Three! Faster Ogre, we aren't pouring molasses here. Four! Five!"

"Slow down sir, slow down! I'm trying! I'm trying!"

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Remember! Reviews are like candy. They inspire me. wink

I'm adding an index at the end of each chapter from now on, to cover japenese words I used in the chapter, to make sure no one can complain that I didn't, so here it is!

Reikai: Spirit World

Kimono: Japanese style dress

River Styx: Japanese equivalent of Hell, or purgatory, or the underworld...something or other...that's for sure...

ningen: Human

Katana: Japanese sword

bishonen: pretty boy. hottie. yummy.

glaive: staff like weapon toped with a slightly curved three or four inch blade

Youki: Demon spirit energy

Rei/Reiki: Spirit energy. human? everyone?

Au revoir! Until next time! signed Darkness


	4. Chapter Three

Pen Vs. Sword-ShadowVixen90: Thanks. It always means a lot hearing that people like your stuff. And three-inch hair would just be really really short, like a women's version of a men's style, and a little shaggy. It's really just meant to give hera really bad case of bed head....

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**Chapter 3**

**Kisu…**

Ten minutes later, at 7:00, I found myself standing at the end of my street, dressed in my horrid uniform. The skirt was just a tad bit too short, but that didn't really matter, since any of these outfits make me look about ten years old. Considering that anything but some very specific clothing styles and hairstyles do this, I had been expecting it, but finding that I had been right only put me in a worse mood.

After a really quick shower, and throwing on this cursed outfit I had grabbed my bag (which I love. It's so beat up that it will probably fall apart any day now, but it has about five pounds of pins and key-chains on it and the names of some rock bands squeezed on there in whiteout too) and stormed down the hallway and then the stairs.

Storming down the hallway, though, and incidentally my father's bedroom, reminded me that I did _not_ live alone, but with a parental figure, who, however much he really didn't care, would feel obligated to question their only daughter, not only about what was wrong if I came bursting in as cranky as I was right now, but also what all that noise a few minutes ago upstairs in my room had been.

I had a perfunctory excuse for the noise, a whole list of them in fact, because unfortunately, the clock incident isn't that unusual an occurrence for me. (a.k.a. Kisu will now attempt to murder the alarm clock instead of switching it off like a normal person, hence spending hundreds of dollars on new clocks each year. My father doesn't even ask why when I ask him to pick me up a new one or beg for money so that _I _can buy a new one. He just thinks I have a clock fetish, or collection, or something. Right…). I'm really not a morning person. My brain just takes a little longer to activate itself in the a.m. than someone who is. And while I'm on this little side-tangent, may I just say that I despise morning people? In a good way of course.

I wasn't in the mood to come up with an excuse for my mood though (I may have woken up some, but not enough to actually strategize at my normal level), so I stopped half way down the stairs and gathered my wits, and squeezed them until they surrendered and allowed me to assume an unnaturally and unreasonably happy mask, something I never am to begin with, despite my urge to punch another hole in a wall, and then forced myself to bounce down the remaining portion of the staircase, and into the kitchen, which I had fully expected to be occupied by my father, his newspaper, his morning coffee, and bagel breakfast.

He wasn't there. The room was empty. Not only was the kitchen empty, but the lights were out and there were no new dishes in the sink that I could see.

I blinked, banishing the concept and feelings of a self-induced, faux sugar rush from my brain for at least another six months, then reached to the left of the doorway and jabbed at the light switch until it flipped up. The light blared to life and I scowled as I saw a note that had been left on the table, something that I should have noticed before anyway, since I can see just as well in the dark, if not better, than I can with light.

Crossing the room I picked the note up and read it, finding that it said exactly what I thought it would.

'Hey Hon." I scowled at the term of endearment. 'I told you last night, but in case you forgot, I have a business meeting this morning. I have to leave before five so I won't see you before I go.' Now that he mentioned it did remember. I relaxed fractionally and thanked the heavens that I had not set my alarm earlier than I had, therefore avoiding a meeting with the dreaded father.

'The company called last night and asked me to deal with a problem a couple of cities south of here. It should only take a couple of days. I should be back by Friday night. Good luck with school today. Love you baby, Dad.' I scowled at the note, then crumpled it up and chucked it in the general direction of the trashcan before allowing myself a small smirk.

Where any other child may have been pissed at their guardian for taking off so unexpectedly, albeit with my father it would _not _have been unexpected, merely normal, I was just relieved, and thankful. No father around meant no needing to act like the normal teenager I was supposed to be, instead of the weirdo demon gal I am, no having to eat solid food that will just make me sick and most likely be barf up again later, so that said parent will not question me about a possible eating disorder, and no having to hide my oh so necessary blood intake. The next couple days suddenly seemed a lot less stressful.

I darted over to the kitchen refrigerator (full sized, unlike the dinky little one I get in my room), yanked it open and pulled out a gallon jug of iced tea, my temporary solution to overwhelming hunger pains and grouchiness, by way of caffeine, which must be ingested in very large quantities to have any effect on me, and something liquid in my belly to trick it into thinking I might have actually fed it something it can use, even though tea has very few components that my body _can_ actually use, and then bounded back up the stairs to my room to…adjust…my wardrobe. Hey, if my dad wasn't around I was going to make this day marginally better than it seemed like it might be, especially considering my lack of food source, or means of getting one, at the moment, and that meant ditching part of this walking fashion disaster. Who cares if you get detention if it makes your day actually seem worthwhile?

Reaching my room I dropped my bag on the floor, kicked those ugly doll shoes off and, pulling off that god-awful blazer, and left it all in a heap on the floor as I jumped over my boxes, again, to get to my closet.

I am now going on record and saying that I am not a clothing obsessed freakazoid, I just have a very defined style, when I'm not slumming around in school uniforms, and they happen to be the first thing I got around to unpacking, being the most essential, after blood, in everyday life.

I jammed my feet into my favorite four inch, wedged heel, black boots that came up to just below my knee and had faux lacing up the front and zippers on the side. They're very sixty-ish, but there is one thing you need to realize about heels…they make me look like normal person! Add four inches to my 4'9" and I actually look average! It's not that I especially care about fitting in, it's more that I get exceedingly sick of having to look up to glare at the morons I'm constantly meeting. And what I like the most about these boots is that, while making me significantly taller, they also don't impair my fighting ability, not that I actually fight a lot, but when I do they don't get in the way. If anything they become an extra weapon, and they really do improving the effectiveness of my roundhouse kicks.

I grabbed a handful of silver stud earrings, paused in front of a mirror long enough to slather on a thick line of black eyeliner, and then snatched my mid-thigh length, fitted leather jacket before running back to the pile of other stuff and forcing it unceremoniously into my bag, downstairs, and out the door.

Which is how you now find me, as I already mentioned, my productive and slightly cheerful mood quickly evaporating. I only have a general idea of where it is I'm trying to find, and no clue what time I had originally set this meeting for, or if was even for today, and only…I looked at my watch…an hour and fifty minutes left to do it in.

But first things first…

I closed my eyes and forced myself to empty my mind, which really wasn't as easy as it should have been since my brain had decided to take up a nice little mantra of _blood, blood, blood, blood _chanting it over and over and over again.

Those were the kinds of thoughts I pushed away, the pointless ones that were leading nowhere and had nothing to do with changing my form.

Instead I focused on the thin strands that, within my mind's eye, I could see wrapped tightly around my body, and below that layer of lime green energy, the deep red wine color of mine. This was the layer I needed. I submerged myself deeper into my energy, until all I could see in my head were the thin strips of red ribbon of my energy, intertwined with the occasional green one.

I reached out with my metaphysical fingers and tweaked a string. A shiver ran through my hair. Good. That meant it was the right one. I had known that, but I always checked just to be sure.

In my mind I grabbed hold of the string and twisted it into the pattern I wanted. Each form that I know how to take requires a very specific knot that needs to be tied into my youki. I completed the knot, studied it for a moment and then released it. The strand slid back into its place, the knot I had created last night for my three-inch mouse fluff disappearing.

My hair shivered again, more violently, and the green layer of rei bulged around my head, allowing mine to adjust it's configuration to match the knot I had just added, but not before 'checking' to make sure I was not doing anything that contradicted the permanent knots it and the pill created. I had made the mistake of doing that once, and it was not something to be envied. Having a chunk of your rei torn out of your spirit is not a pleasant sensation, but at least it reforms itself…eventually.

Suddenly the green rei constricted, meaning that my crimson had finished, and through the lightheadedness that followed I felt a wave of soft, wavy hair cascade down my back. If I had done the seal right it would be neon blue. I smiled softly as I moved on to the rest of what I wanted to change today. Somewhere between leaving the house and reaching the sidewalk I had decided that, if I was going to push the rules with the uniform, whatever they may be, I might as well push them with my hair too, especially considering that I wouldn't have to exert too much energy to do so. On impulse I returned to that seal and pulled on a loop, and was rewarded with the surge of power that meant it had worked and the ends of my blue hair were now dark lavender.

Holes were forming themselves in my ears now, too, because of the last seal I had just created. This always took a little longer than everything else did, just because it was shifting a part of my body in a way that required a total reconfiguration of the flesh in certain spots. Earring holes are generally the most complex thing I can accomplish unless I luck out and accidentally create a seal that I haven't used before, though those ones usually only work that one time, and can't be duplicated.

I shifted my attention from my ears and hair to my eyes. I reached for the cord of energy that controlled them, studying what was already there, and finally just tweaked that seal, tightening some of its loops, increasing their likeness to slate. Slate gray eyes look harder, they hide emotion better, they are easier to make look heartless. All of these things are my aspirations, my goals, to prevent stupid ningens from trying to get closer to me. Because I don't want anyone to get close to me. That would only create feelings that I do not want, and fool me into a false sense of security, maybe making me believe that I could actually depend on someone other than myself for some things. Right. And no. I learned that lesson years ago. I don't want to relearn it, or re-experience the pain of losing someone I care about when I inevitably need to move again, or if the Tribe suddenly decided I'm too happy for my own good and offed them. I can't say that I've always succeeded with these goals, but I've done my best, and at least managed to keep all potential friends away from my true self, even if that has sometimes meant acting like an idiotic bubble-head for months on end because it was the only way to dissuade them in that situation. That was definitely not my favorite stop in the continuous string of homes and places I have lived. I was actually thankful when the next move came and I had to deal with all the annoying packing, unpacking, and reestablishment of food sources and contacts when I actually got around to searching for one if the previous one couldn't provide me with a new name to check with.

I cut off this string of self introspection as that alien rei, or youki, that wasn't mine, but had been so close to being mine for so many years that I wouldn't know what to do without it, tightened and settled into place, signaling that my changes had completed themselves. I looked over my shoulder and scowled at the house, and then the sky, sending a long stream of mental-curses heavenward, before turning and loping down the street in search of the correct neighborhood, bag bouncing on my hip as a fastened the studs into my ears as a ran, and my now blue purple mid-back length hair streaming behind me, all chances of a lighter mood finally gone, now that this black cloud of anger had descended on me and my gray eyes had taken on a hard sheen that would doubtfully soften at any time today, even if I managed to get some blood before school started. This mood had very little to do with blood hunger, but still managed to feed off of my hunger and grow darker and thicker with each step I took.

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And that's the end of Chapter 3! I'm sorry that I didn't update fora couple of days, those of you who are reading this! I'm going to put up some extra chapters this weekend.


	5. Chapter Four

And Chapter 4 is here! Mwahaha! I beat-eth you, my oh so stupid computer!

Ehem clears throat and moving on....

Can someone please explain what Author Alert is, and what CO's are?

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**Chapter 4**

**Kisu…**

7:50, and an hour and ten minutes left to get this over with.

I was standing in front of the hideout/house of Fraz Endoli. I had dug through my brain archives on the jog over to this side of town, thankful that I had at least remembered the street name right away, meaning that I could be getting there while I tried to remember the rest. I had finally remembered his name, then his house number, and then that my meeting with him had supposedly been at 8:30.

Well, screw that. I was not waiting here for half an hour just to do what I could do right this minute. I'm pissed, and I'm hungry, and I have to go to school later, so I'm going to have some fun.

I smiled evilly as I thought this, strolling up to his door, looking as street-wise and tough as I pride myself on being. Getting detention or whatever punishment I would for this outfit would be worth it if I could scare the shit out of this little monster.

I rapped my knuckles against the wood of the door, sharply, authoritatively, ignoring the very obvious doorbell, and then leaned against his doorjamb, taking advantage of all my slim, female body had to offer, not that that was actually very much. I jutted my hips out, shoulders leaning against the wood, letting my jacket flap open some as I crossed my arms, my shirt slide up a little to show my perfectly toned stomach. My ankles crossed to show off my legs, which, when compared to the rest of my body, were proportionally long, that were already shown off so well by my lovely little school skirt. God, I hate skirts.

The door cracked open and a rat-faced head snacked through the opening, glaring at me.

"Who the fuck are you." His voice has snobbish, high pitched, nasal. I smiled at him. Sweetly. Sinisterly. Coldly.

"Kisu. I arranged an appointment with you last week." I stood and took the few steps closer, putting me nearly face to face with him. It made him uncomfortable. I could tell. My smile got wider, more predatory.

"I don't remember making an appointment with you…" He paused to give me an assessing look, giving me the hairy eyeball from head to foot, and then leered, apparently taking my apparel the wrong way, figuring, even with my tough attitude, I couldn't be too hard to beat considering I was so much shorter than him. "…Kisu." He used a tone of voice that he must have thought made him desirable, sexy. News flash. Fraz would never be able to do sexy, even if his life depended on it. "And I don't usually do business with humans, but I might be able to make an exception for you." The look in his eye as he said it was unmistakable. If I had been in another situation I would have been disgusted, and punched his lights out right there. Unfortunately this was actually the response I had been aiming for.

He'd just made the same mistake that so many of my previous suppliers had made when first meeting me. First, he assumed I was human. Maybe they did that so often because my tiny bit of more human-like rei always rises to the surface, probably because it's not affected by the net the Tribe put on the rest of it. Second, he assumed I would be any easy lay, or an easy meal depending on who I was dealing with, because of my outfit. And third, he assumed that he really _hadn't_ made a meeting with me and treated me like I was nothing.

I leaned closer, ignoring his foul smell, and tweaked a string of my energy, so that it appeared that my eyeteeth were lengthening, growing longer and sharper, turning into fangs, as I smiled wider, and let a little of the coldness of my smile slip into my eyes, which, up until this point I had kept carefully merry, blank, yet attentive; eyes that would not be easily fooled, yet posed no threat.

A look of doubt flashed through his eyes before his confidant attitude returned. I could just imagine him thinking that maybe he had misjudged me, and then dismissing the idea as quickly as it had come. But still, I was making progress, and things were still going the way I wanted them to. I was in control.

"Oh. But I think we do. And I don't think that I'm _just_ human." I let my words sink in, backed up by my smile, before continuing. "I distinctly remember making this appointment with a certain 'Fraz of Fortune.' Are you 'Fraz of Fortune'?"

I saw him gulp. Most suppliers only gave out their aliases once they were sure they had the client hooked. He replied, still trying to keep up a tough act equal to mine.

He failed.

"Fine, then…" He still managed to say my name disdainfully, despite his mounting discomfort. My smile grew fractionally sharper. "…Kisu. Tell me _your _alias, and our agreed password, and I might consider doing business with you, despite the fact that you didn't come at the appointed time." I managed not to snort. Like he had any other clients to worry about. If he took me on with only the bare minimum of information I had provided and so few safety precautions (a.k.a. passwords etc.) he must have been fairly desperate for business. I winced inwardly. That didn't really bode that well for the probability of good quality blood, a decent level of illegalness (as in a not off the chart bad-level because that would put it, and in turn, me, on the good guy alert list, a.k.a. 'The Spirit Detectives'), or his prices, but I hadn't had time to find anything more promising before the move.

I took a step back, smile still in place. He visibly relaxed, and I raised my arms dramatically as my smile again took a turn towards the malicious end. I hadn't realized that he had been that tense with me near him, but if I made him that nervous, even if it wasn't openly displayed yet, it meant that I was well on my way to being in charge of this little relationship.

He tensed again at my dramatic gestures, and I tilted my head to one side before speaking.

"I am the Bloodmonger," I said calmly, emotionlessly. Sweat broke out on his forehead. I took a step closer again, but not as close as I had been before. Online, where I set up most of my dealings, I was rumored to be vicious, guiltless, violent, willing to kill, impossible to resist. I'm not saying that it's entirely true, or entirely wrong. I just refuse to argue over it, discuss any of, just accepting the advantage such a reputation will bring, occasionaly doing a few simple things just to cement it more firmly in place or improve upon it. You never know when pre-disposed fear in your favor will give you that tiniest boost of power that will let you survive.

I wiped all emotion from my face, made my eyes blank, empty pools…rock, frozen rock…and looked at him with a dead smile pasted on my face.

"And I am Shikyo. I can be your death."

With the last the last words I leapt forward and blew on his face. He leapt backwards, tripping over himself, with a yelp of surprise, and fear, as I laughed at him harshly. I let go all pretenses of maybe being a nice little girl, and let all my anger from my pain, my life, by failures, filter into my face, making it into what I knew was an ugly inhuman mask, one that could very easily convince someone that I could kill them without reason and never regret it.

Like I said, some of this is an act, some of it's not. All I know is that, if I'm having a good day, it's a pain in the ass to put this show on, but I do it anyway because it makes the whole business easier later on. But if I'm having a bad day, say, like today, it's one hell of a lot of fun.

I planted a hand on either side of the doorway, hands barely laying flat when I extended my arms all the way, and leaned into his hallway, the door now nearly completely open, as Fraz cowered against the far wall, a mere four feet away. I tilted my head back and sniffed, wallowing in the smell of his fear. I didn't bother to hide the shiver of raw excitement that ran down my spine.

I fixed my eyes on him and smiled a sweet, sinister smile.

"I paid the password, Fraz. Aren't you going to let me in?" I said it in a sarcastic, condescending tone, one meant to induce panic. Panic smells the sweetest of all.

He tried to press himself farther into the wall, farther away from me. Sweat began to drip down his forehead. He couldn't seem to rip his eyes from mine.

I laughed my harsh burst of sound again, and let my smile grow slightly friendlier, in a cold way, as I scanned his body with my eyes as he had me a scant few minutes ago, letting my eyes drain back to being more sinister, colder, darker. I flashed my fangs at him, and let my eyes show him exactly what I thought of him.

He was nothing to me. He was no better than dirt, scum, a piece of some undesirable substance stuck to the bottom of my shoe, but necessary to get what it was that I wanted. I let him see that if he didn't sell me exactly what I wanted, exactly when I wanted it, and for the price I demanded, namely my bottled blood, his neck might make a somewhat satisfactory replacement meal, even if, overall, I found him entirely revolting.

Ya. I scoffed inwardly. Like I would ever sink tooth and fang into his filthy neck. Not gonna happen, even if his was the last blood in the world.

He squeaked like the rat he was and sweat burst from his pores, spilling down his face.

I shifted an incalculably small amount, ready to lunge at him if he didn't respond soon, posture completely predator, killer. If he was frozen by fear he would be easy prey.

He saw it, and the fear in his eyes exploded into panic. He lunged for the door, trying to slam it shut on me, trying to get me away from him. True sinister joy flashed on my face a moment, obliterating my created replica, before fading again to let me focus and concentrate.

He tried to slam the door, just like I thought he would, just like they all did.

I shifted again, catching the brunt of the door on my shoulder, my hand shooting out to catch the edge. The door stopped a scarce two inches from being shut.

I froze, calculating his strength compared to mine. On the other side of the door he was wheezing, straining, using all his strength to try and force the door shut. I stood there, tensed, but barely using any of my strength to keep the door open. Even with the burst of adrenaline from his panic he was only marginally stronger than the strongest human. I was twice as strong as the strongest human, which is still weak for a demon, but definitely put me a few notches higher than poor Fraz. I smirked. Poor Fraz my ass. He'd brought this on himself.

I shoved the door open. Fraz yelped and jumped out of the way as the door smashed into the wall.

I darted forward, smashing him into the wall as well, hand to his throat, choking him. I couldn't hold him off the ground, because I was so much shorter than him, but upward pressure on the throat is upward pressure. It all does the same thing.

He whimpered. Weakling.

"Well? Can I come in?"

I knew I was torturing him, but I didn't care. I was letting my dark mood lap at it and heal itself. Hey, after this and a little blood I was going to be all set to rock my new school in style. If I could get rid of this damn hunger I might even welcome a fight or two and the detention.

He nodded his head, shivering, squirming, trying to get away from me. His voice was shrill with fright. "Ya! Ya sure. Come in, come in. Do whatever you want!"

I lowered him down the wall so he was standing with his full weight on his own two feet again. His legs almost buckled. I eased off on the choking and leaned my mouth in close to his ear.

"Thanks Fraz. That means so much." I reached my other hand up and ran a finger along the line of his face. He cringed away from me. His face was even grayer than it had been when I got here. Ashen. Unhealthy.

"I'll even let you live if you show me where your blood is. I might even pay for it."

He was shaking, but he nodded. "Okay. Okay. I'll do whatever."

I smiled against his ear. "But if you ever try to jip me, or get me in trouble in any way…" I dropped my mouth to his neck and ran my teeth very lightly over that disgusting skin of his. "I'll kill you."

I pulled back and let him see my eyes, his death in my eyes. His skin grayed even more, but he didn't struggle. He just went limp. "Understand?"

He nodded his head, eyes wide with fear, of me. Sometimes it hurt to see someone look at me like that, like they looked at my tribe, and sometimes it felt good, to see the reaction I could stir. Sometimes it felt both, like today. I removed my hand and he slid to the floor in a lump.

"Glad we understand each other. Now, where do you keep your supplies? I'll take what I need and we can decide on a price." He just pointed at the closet at the end of the hall. He didn't even lift his head.

I couldn't help smiling a little as I turned to walk down the hall.

Something smashed into the front door. I turned around again, for a second thinking it was Endoli and that he had suddenly regained his strength and composure and was making a run for it.

But he was still slumped on the ground, though now staring horrified at the door.

I snapped at him, "What is that."

He shook his head no, meaning he didn't know.

There was another smash, this time followed by annoyed voices.

"Get out of the way, Yusuke, and let a real man try."

"Ya, and that real man would be who?"

"You're just jealous 'cause you could never compare to me, Urameshi."

"Whatever you bonehead. Go ahead, knock yourself out."

The smashing resumed, and I realized what must be going on.

I muttered under my breath. "Che. He must be higher on their list than I guessed."

I turned to start running down the hall, hoping to find a back door, but came face to face with a black haired demon. His youki was so strong that I was positive of that right away, and immensely surprised that I hadn't sensed him behind me until just now.

"I'd get out of my way if I were you." I dropped into a fighting stance, trying to decide if I should fight him, or just try to get by him, or if I would even have a chance of beating him if he took my challenge.

He was wearing a katana. Definitely just trying to get past.

His eyes took in every shift in my posture, stance, breathing. I cursed. Why do I always get cornered by people who are so much better at this than me! Duh, _because_ they're better than me. Not that I'm exactly bad, I just don't get to practice or learn new stuff very often. "Hn."

I ignored his nothing response and gave up on finding the perfect moment, I lunged forward, distinctly to one side, and then pushed off with the force of that momentum, so that I was now shooting to his other side.

I thought he had fallen for it. I had seen him lunge to that side. I said goodbye to the idea that I might be able to trick this guy easily when a hand wrapped in my hair, about half way up it, and yanked me backwards.

I want right over backwards, also thanks to the momentum, but went with the roll, kicking out to where he should have been, and was rewarded with a light "Ouff" as my foot connected with his stomach.

I knew that that wouldn't take him out, but I hadn't expected my triumph to be as short lived as it ended up being. I'd expected to at least have a chance to stand up again.

Right.

I hand wrapped around my ankle, swung me, and threw me bodily against the wall, making it my turn to let out a whoosh of pained air.

My back slammed into the wall, my body vertical, head pointed down, and through it. I crumpled to the ground in a pile of plaster, cheap sheet rock, and busted two by fours, once again thankful that it was harder to hurt me than it appeared to be.

I must have blacked out for a few seconds due to the shock of collision, because I was suddenly to face to face with the point of a sword. I jumped a little, merely because I was surprised to find that I had gone out, that the fight had ended so quickly, that I had been the one that had lost, been ended that quickly. To find a sword held to my face, considering what had just happened, not so surprising, but it still affects you the same, seeing it two inches from you nose, even if you a_re_ expecting it.

It only took me a fraction of a second longer to re-gather my wits and stare angrily up the blade at its owner, at the warrior who was glaring at me with hostility while he held his sword so steadily, just waiting for an excuse to kill me. A warrior who had eyes the color of the substance I so craved.

Oh, I wanted to give him that excuse, but that would be giving in, and I refuse to lose.

So I stared at him over his sword, daring him to kill me, he daring me to give him a reason, both of us knowing that neither of us would give in, because already, we could tell that about each other. That, and that this would be a rivalry that would last a long, long time, and one that neither of us would probably ever win.

And so we glared, and I wished that I could let myself take this easy escape that had been handed to me so unexpectedly, escape from the drudgery of living, and knew that nothing was ever that easy.

This day just gets worse and worse…

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Until next time! Darkness


	6. Chapter Five

Um...I forgot to do my little glossary thing last chappie. There was only one word though....

Shikyo: death There! all fixed!

Jasmine Reinier: Me too! huggles the monster-demon before joining the drool-fest I think that's one of my favorite outfits on him... o.o yum...

Beatrix Kiddo: Thanks! And here's the next chappie! woot!

Lachwen: Don't worry. I will.

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**Chapter 5**

**Hiei…**

"Let her up Hiei."

Hiei turned his glare form the girl on the floor at his feet to Kurama.

"Why." His voice was cold, emotionless, apprehensive.

Kurama looked at him calmly. Apparently the effects of borrowing Youko's energy wearing off.

"Koenma will kill you if you kill her, which you very well know…" He glanced at the girl who was now eying Hiei's still steady katana as though she might bite into it if it either, a) didn't move out of her face immediately, or b) killed her. She certainly had the fangs for it if she decided to attempt it. She also didn't really seem to care which one it was, as long as it happened soon.

"…so there really seems to be no point in keeping her pinned under your blade." Kurama placed a hand on his shoulder momentarily before moving towards Yusuke and Kuwabara, who were struggling to restrain a flailing Fraz.

Yusuke had gotten them lost on the way, merely replying, "I said I knew my way around the place on the screen, not the random place baby-breath was gonna drop us," when told he _had_ said that he knew the area, meaning that they hadn't gotten to the house until 8:15.

Hiei grudgingly sheathed the katana, and stepped back, eyeing the girl sharply. She lay still another moment, scowling up at him, and then gracefully unfolded herself from the mess of debris and slowly stood, as though she had experience with hard falls, and was gauging her injuries without being obvious. Evidently she was fine, because she finally stood and began straightening her clothes. Her eyes flashed when she realized she was taller than him, at almost eye level with the tips of his hair.

"So, oh so powerful Hiei, you don't seem the type to let anyone tell you what to do." Her tone was taunting as she began to beat plaster dust off of her outfit. She tugged at the skirt she wore as though it annoyed her.

Hiei wondered why she was wearing the dumb thing if she didn't like it, especially where skirts seemed like they would be immensely inconvenient to fight in. If something was going to interfere with his mobility, there was no way he was going to touch it, let alone wear it.

He ignored her molesting and glowered at the busted wall behind her.

She moved to shrug out of her jacket. Hiei's hand dropped back to his sword handle, warning her. She slid it back on, grudgingly, eyes snapping angrily at him, over his hawk-like observance of her now, and the fact that he had beaten her squarely minutes ago, when she usually won without any effort.

Hiei's expression sharpened.

That's what she got for fighting weaklings so much.

He would almost guarantee that she had a weapon hidden somewhere and was trying to find a way to pull it with out drawing his attention to it.

"Maybe I read you wrong." She continued in the same train she had, determined to stretch his nerves. "Maybe you always do exactly what you're told to." She fixed him with a look of disdain, much as he was her.

He couldn't understand it. He just knew that he hated her already, and was sincerely hoping that Koenma wouldn't stick her on the team, like he had him and Kurama, as her punishment.

Because she had obviously been involved in something that was going on when they arrived. Why else would she try to flee?

She was talking again, chin tilted defiantly, daring him to respond. "Maybe you're just some weakling that has to depend on others to fight for them. Maybe any actual skill you have is just a fluke." She twisted to the side, half bending over and lifting one of her feet so that she could tug her boot back into place and fix the zippers. "Maybe you only got lucky when you beat me." Her hair slid in front of her face, giving her a sinister look, as she stared at him through the eerie blue curtain it created.

Hiei tensed, but caught himself before lunging at her. Her eyes flashed in triumph, knowing that she had finally hit the nerve she had been searching for. Hiei seethed.

If she did have a weapon though, and could manage to get at it, he wasn't that worried. As the earlier tussle had shown, his speed, skill, and strength was far superior to hers.

Then why was he letting her get on his nerves even more than most people usually did?

Maybe because he had yet to see any weaknesses in her, besides the obvious ones just stated. She had shown no pain or fear. She hadn't let anything be read from her face that she didn't wish to be seen. She had near perfect control over her emotions, something that he too strived for, and was usually just as good at accomplishing.

She straightened. "I bet I could even beat you if we fought again."

He couldn't tell if she actually believed that or not, which was an accomplishment in itself, but, whether it was true of not, it still made him mad.

That someone so physically weak would even dare to say that about him. Hiei Jaganshi, the most feared thief and assassin in the Makai. Hiei Jaganshi, who was now forced to work for the organization he hated most.

Her words distracted him for the precious seconds she had needed, so that he missed the flash of silver in her hand.

He didn't realize that she had gotten at the knife, which he belatedly realized must have been in her boot.

She lunged at him, her mind a buzz of excitement in his.

But he had been distracted.

He stepped to the side and her knife caught the edge of his cheek, causing a small gash.

He cursed. He should have easily have been able to get out of the way of that.

Either she was faster than he had thought, or she had just distracted him more than he had realized.

A thin line of blood dripped down his cheek.

His hand darted out and grabbed her wrist as it snapped at his face again, as he again sidestepped the attack. He used her momentum to throw her off balance.

He spun, twisting her arm up behind her back, easily disarming her, and slammed her into the wall again. He leaned into her, putting pressure on the joint-lock he was using, holding her own knife to her throat. A wave of mental curses wafted from her mind.

"If you move again, I will kill you."

She turned her head so that the knife pressed more forcibly into her throat. She wasn't even reacting to the hold, which usually had most people whimpering in pain. The point of the knife penetrated the skin and a line of blood ran down her neck.

"I though Mr. Red Head over there said boss-man would hurt you if you did."

She turned her head farther, the knife pressing farther into her neck, so that she could grin spitefully at him. She didn't even flinch as the steel bit into her.

Hiei found himself grudgingly impressed.

He leaned his face closer to her, a look of contempt on his face, and growled, "Do I look like I really care?"

"No," she replied nonplused, uncaring, and then shouted across the room, "Hey, who-ever-you-are, did you catch that blithering idiot yet? I'm sick of waiting around!"

Her question was immediately followed by a loud crashing as either Kuwabara or Yusuke threw Fraz through a wall very similarly to how Hiei had thrown the girl through a wall earlier, followed by a shouted reply from Yusuke, not that she knew who he was, or actually cared, or that Yusuke realized it was one of the 'criminals' asking the question.

"Ya, whatever, give me a minute!"

Hiei pushed her against the wall harder. "I said, shut up."

She smiled at him, intentionally cheery, having somehow decided that that would be the best way to annoy him.

He scowled at her, pissed. It was working all too well. It made him want to throw away his probation sentence and be thrown into a damn dungeon just so he could chop out her rattling tongue.

"I know."

"Then why are you still talking," he said from between clenched teeth.

"Because you said you would kill me if I moved again, but you have yet to do so, and what threat worse than death would you be willing to go through with if you won't even kill me."

Her perky tone, assumed or not, was far too similar to Botan's. It made him want to stab her repeatedly, just like he did the blue-haired guide to the River Styx.

The tussling sounds resumed behind him.

He grabbed her by the back of the neck, turned and chucked her into the middle of the fray behind him, completely fed up with her.

She landed in the middle of the fighting, and proceeded to knock Kuwabara's and Yusuke's sorry butts out of the way, and direct a substantial blow in the direction of Fraz's head, which obviously connected, seeing as Fraz had no sense of battle skills.

He fell over with a wail, and lay on the ground, eyes spinning, much like Kuwabara was, while Yusuke jumped up shouting.

"What the hell was that for!"

She stared at Fraz disdainfully and muttered, "Weakling," then tugged her skirt straight again with an annoyed gesture.

Yusuke paused and blinked. "Hey. Isn't that the uniform from my school?"

She glanced at him, annoyed, and then headed torward a bag that was sitting forlornly against one of the walls.

Kurama stepped away from the wall, where he had been staying out of the way of Yusuke and Kuwabara's ineffective antics, and into her path, preventing her from reaching her bag.

"What do I care? Does it even matter?"

She stopped and fixed him with a murderous look.

"I'm afraid we have to arrest you." Her look changed to one of quizzical exasperation.

"No duh. Like I didn't realize that."

She tried to sidestep him and get to her bag.

"But if I'm getting arrested, I'd rather avoid getting detention as well. And that would involve, for one thing, wearing the correct parts of the uniform. School's bad enough as it is."

At which point Kuwabara suddenly sat up and yelled, "I don't wanna go to school! I don't want probation!"

She glared at him as she rubbed a sleeve over her neck, wiping away the blood.

"So can I please get to my bag bishi-dude?"

The red-head blushed slightly, but remained where he was, showing no inclination of moving.

Unfortunately, a portal opened at that moment and Botan flew through on her oar, now clothed in normal street clothes, and acting slightly less perky and a little more human.

"Hi y'all!"

Hiei tried very hard not to throw something at her, his tolerance already used up by that girl, and settled for glaring at her instead.

He belatedly realized that he still didn't have her name.

"I'm taking Endoli, and Koenma said to find out the girl's name. He's watching from the screen in his office," she added.

Four out of the six people, besides the nameless girl, in the room turned expectant faces her, obviously expecting an answer to this unasked question, Fraz being unconscious still, and Kuwabara distracted by the fly that was buzzing in front of his face.

She opened her mouth to speak.

Hiei slipped into her mind to read the answer and she gasped. Her eyes locked on him, burning with anger.

"Her name is Kisu Tanira," Hiei stated, slightly surprised.

Heads turned in his direction.

He shrugged. "She was going to lie."

Yusuke was the one that spoke first.

"But she doesn't look like the girl in the picture, and she definitely doesn't feel human."

Her eyes flashed darker, angrier, and she said scornfully, "Maybe that's because I'm not, kisama."

A vein in Yusuke's forehead throbbed and he was opening his mouth to reply when Botan's communicator started to ring shrilly.

She pulled it out of her pocket and flipped it open.

"Reporting sir."

Koenma's voice filtered through the hand held, slightly staticy.

"Just tell them to go to school and take her with them. I did some research and there's a Kisu Tanira enrolled in their school, scheduled to start today. Bring Fraz in, and we'll question her directly after school. Figure out what's going on."

"Will do sir," she said happily.

"Good." The connection clicked closed.

Everyone's attention flicked back to the room, and they all realized that the girl, who was apparently the Kisu that had supposedly been an innocent human, gone.

They soon located her, from the crash of something breaking in the closet.

Hiei flashed in there and threw her out, pinning her to the wall again, this time back first, with his katana to her throat.

"You're more trouble than your worth."

She scowled at him darkly.

He turned and growled as Kurama place a hand on his shoulder.

"Step away from her Hiei."

"Hn." But he stepped away abruptly, sheathing his sword, and then marched out the front door.

No one bothered stopping him. It was standard Hiei behavior.

Yusuke and Kuwabara were now poking around in the closet, and had discovered the blood supply.

Yusuke poked his head out.

"What were you doing in here?" His question was directed to Kisu as he handed a bottle to Kurama marked 'Blood type: A positive.'

Her answer was clipped. "Getting. Breakfast."

Yusuke looked at her oddly. "Blood?"

"Yes." Her eyes dared him to say something about it, give her an excuse to beat him to a pulp.

Botan interjected.

"It doesn't matter if you need it or not anyway dear." Kisu glared at her. "I have to confiscate it and bring it all back to spirit world with me. Which I'll be doing now."

She bounced past Kurama to the closet, where she waved a hand, causing all the boxed to jump into the air and soar out to where her oar was still hovering. She jumped onto it and grabbed the _still _unconscious Fraz by the shirt collar and sailed back through the portal, calling a farewell back over her shoulder.

"Bye Yusuke! See you after your classes!"

Kuwabara had joined Yusuke in staring at her.

Kisu snarled at them, obviously giving up on the perkiness because Hiei was no longer here to annoy.

"Just give me your names. Then maybe I won't bite your heads off."

Kurama jumped in. "Yusuke."

Yusuke shook his head and finally stopped looking at her and came out of the closet. He nodded to her.

"Kuwabara."

Kuwabara snapped out of it for a second to reply in the stupidest way possible, made worse by the fact that he didn't even realize he had a brain the size of a pea.

"What?"

"And I'm Kurama."

"And that was Hiei."

She motioned to the bottle that Kurama was still holding.

"Can I have that please."

He looked at her appraisingly. "That depends on my you want it. Necessity or choice?"

She looked at him like he was insane. "If I had a choice I would most definitely not be asking for it."

Kurama handed it to her.

She popped the lid off of it, and took a huge swig, almost gagging.

Yusuke laughed.

She glared at him.

"You try drinking cold blood, you asshole."

She drained it, and then tossed the empty bottle into a trashcan that was in the closet.

"May I get my bag now, oh so powerful Kurama?" Her voice was contemptuous.

He didn't react to her jeering, just stepped out of the way and let her by.

She picked up the backpack and dumped a pile of shoes, socks, and blazer onto the floor. She dropped to the ground beside it and started to pull of her heels.

She suddenly realized that the three guys standing around her hadn't seemed so very tall only because she had been wearing them. She thought back. That meant that Hiei was probably actually about the same height as her.

"Is that blood gonna help improve your mood, miss crab?"

She frowned.

"No, at this point it would take half a case to do that."

Yusuke leaned against the wall next to her.

She pulled on the socks and jammed her feet into the flats as she stood up.

"How hard are we gonna have to watch you."

She scowled.

"There doesn't seem much point in running now that you know my name, so why bother?"

She slipped her jacket off, and unsnapped the wrist-sheaths, adding them to the pile of knives that had come from her boots.

Whole lot of help they had been.

She grabbed the blazer off of the ground and tried to shake most of the wrinkles out of it, knowing it was a hopeless cause, as she checked her white shirt for blood.

None.

Good.

And the cut was small enough that she doubted anyone would notice it.

She pulled the jacket on and leaned down, grabbing all her black, leathery stuff, and cramming it into her bag instead, before fixing her hair. She reached for the knives, to add them to her bag, but Kurama had picked them up while she changed, as was now examining them.

"May I please have those," she said from between gritted teeth.

The boy just smiled at her as he slid them onto his own wrists, oblivious of her scowl.

Yusuke checked his watch. "It's twenty of nine guys. We'll have to book it across town if we want to get to school on time."

Kuwabara shrugged. "I don't care." He was standing again, but looking infinitely bored.

Kurama smiled. "My school is at this end of town, a few blocks away, so I won't have that problem."

"I still have to finish registering," Kisu added.

Yusuke smiled, warm brown eyes a cold. "And me and Kuwa here will come with, to make sure we get assigned to be your in school guides."

She ignored him and shut her eyes.

A moment later her long blue and purple hair shivered, and then grew hazy. It suddenly coiled and darkened into the mass of shoulder length, black, curly hair that the boys had seen earlier in the picture, not that she knew that.

Kurama was looking at her, openly curios, Yusuke with slack-jawed amazement, and Kuwabara was pale, wide-eyed, and more than a little scared.

She cut them off before any of them could speak, scowling. If she was going to have to explain everything later, as she undoubtedly would now, to Koenma, she only wanted to do it once, meaning she wasn't going to tell them now. If they were that curious they could wait.

"I refuse to explain things more than once, so you can just go ahead and be curious until I explain it to 'Koenma'," she stated, voice mocking, as she stormed past them and stood by the door.

Ya. Like she knew how to get anywhere in this city.

"Well? Are we going?"

Yusuke snapped out of it and strutted out the door.

"Ya. Let's go."

He flashed a smile at her cold, stony face.

"Wouldn't want to be late on your first day, would you Kisu?"

------------------------------

Glossary! I remembered this time!

Kisama: bastard.

It's a small glossary...but it's still a glossary ;;

Review's are inspiration! So please review so that I feel motivated! puppy dog eyes Please? ;;


	7. Chapter Six

Only one review? pouts That's probably because I'm updating two days in a row, right? laughs So just ignore me for now and read the chappie!

Pen Against Sword: ...I have a feeling you're right, so correction people! Kisama still means bastard...but it's a little stronger than I thought...more like mother fing bastard...

I'll stop talking now....

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**Chapter 6**

**Kisu…**

I lifted my head and glared at the two buffoons surrounding me. They'd stuck me in the back corner of the room, Yusuke taking the seat to my right, and Kuwabara the one in front of me.

Ya, like I was gonna try and run away from school.

A cloud in front of the sun moved and I found a bright ray of sunshine suddenly searing my eyes, again.

Why is it always a sunny day when I want to smash things?

I think that it's the fourth class right now.

I don't really know, and I don't really care. I stopped paying attention after the first class, when I realized that I've gone over this whole curriculum before, at my old school, which I told the teachers, which means, as long as I do the papers, which take me about thirty seconds, they don't care what I do.

I've been attempting to get some more sleep whenever those clowns that call themselves Spirit Detectives haven't been bugging me.

Apparently they don't come to school very often, unlike that other redhead, Kurama, who is the top of his class…in another school.

As it was, we still managed to get here late this morning.

I was beyond caring at that point. Like I said earlier, this day just gets worse and worse.

Yusuke had come with me into the administrative office, and somehow managed to get himself assigned as my student guide, despite the fact that the secretary, a kind looking middle-aged woman with short, wavy brown hair, had said that you had to have been in school the day before to be eligable3.

I take it he hadn't been.

He made puppy dog eyes at her though, and slung an arm over my shoulder.

"Come on, Ms. Shinsetsu. She's a friend from a couple of summers ago. She's never been to the island's."

A vein had began to pop in my forehead, and it was at this point that I turned around and took the opportunity to slug him in the jaw.

He jumped back, rubbing his face. "Itai, Kisu, that hurt!"

I mumbled, "That was kind of the point," crossing my arms and stepping away from him with a dark look, making sure he knew that I would do worse next time if he touched me.

He had shrugged and tuned back to the silently laughing secretary. "So, what do you say?"

She scribbled something down on a pad of paper as she said, "That I think, between her and Keiko, you'll be all straightened out in no time."

Yusuke winced at the thought, playing along with her. I doubted I was going to be around long enough to have a lasting effect on anyone in this school, or would ever care about any of them enough to actually try to make one, or at least a positive one.

The secretary tore whatever she had been writing off of the pad and slapped it down on her desk in front of me. I picked it up, glancing at it, but not interested, so not bothering to read it.

"Give that to Yusuke, dear." I handed it to him, and tried not to look at the women with the full force of the disgust I generally show at being called 'dear'.

"Just go to his classes for now. I'll call you back to the office when I find your schedule."

I'd shrugged and walked out the hall. Yusuke had stayed a few more minutes, chatting it up with the secretary.

I think I just found out how Yusuke is still in school despite not turning up very often.

While I stood in the hall Kuwabara had shown up, a book under his arm. I'd stared at him, and he had stopped and looked at me. Maybe I was being judgmental, but he didn't seem the type to show up for anything on time or prepared, let alone a school class.

"What you staring at?"

I didn't answer him, just sneered.

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

He stepped closer, arm rising, as Yusuke stepped out of the office.

"Hey! Brain-dead! Don't beat on the prisoners!" He tried to put his arm across my shoulders again, probably because he now knew I wouldn't like it. I snarled as I shrugged him off.

Kuwabara looked at me closer. "Oh. Right."

The idiot. He hadn't recognized me, even though I had been forced to listen to twenty minutes worth of his blathering as we jogged through the streets, trying to get to school reasonably on time.

"What class you got?" Yusuke asked Kuwabara.

The boy held up his book so he could read what it said. "Uh…I think I got Literature."

Yusuke flashed a cocky grin. "Ya. Me too. Let's go."

The two of them had started down the hall. I stood watching them walk away, contemplating following them, or skipping and going home. Neither seemed very attractive unfortunately.

I felt a jab at the back of my brain. I spun around looking for the source of it.

Yusuke realized I wasn't following and stopped to turn around and yell at me.

"You coming or not!"

I glared at him.

He shrugged. "Doesn't matter to me, but your under custody, so me and Kuwa here have to stick with you."

I sighed. I didn't really want to go and sit at home for hours, especially where I was still starving. At least here I might find something to distract me a bit.

Yep. Two annoying freaks.

And now I find myself sitting between them, unable to escape the pointless bantering shooting back and forth over my head.

Apparently neither of them had come to school often enough to realize that they have all of the same classes, all at the same times.

Joy for me.

I felt the jab at the back of my head again. I jerked my head up, and shot a look in the direction that the energy spike had seemed to come from. It can be hard to tell sometimes.

I found myself looking out the window, focused on a tree.

I was fairly sure that the spiking was someone trying to get into my head. I was fairly sure that it was Hiei. He had given himself away with that name thing earlier.

And if he had been able to get into my head that quickly without me noticing, he had to be a fairly decent, at least mid-level, telepath.

Though, after trying to resurrect the remnants of my mind shields while attempting to sleep while surrounded by said idiots, I had realized that the task probably wouldn't have been that difficult to accomplish anyways, even if I had been expecting it.

I swore under my breath. I should know better by now than to let any of my skills weaken, even if I don't appear to need them at the moment. If anything, I should have strengthened them since the last time I needed them.

But I hadn't needed them since I left the village, so I had let them sit, and, essentially, rot. There had been some fairly strong psychics in the village, and up until the point I had left, I had developed my shields so that they would be strong enough to withstand even their attacks. Now, when it looked like I needed them again, they were spider web thin and full of holes.

I sighed, and resisted the urge to bang my head against the desk repeatedly at my own stupidity. At least I had a framework and an idea of how to do it this time.

I pulled on a cord of my more human-reminiscent rei and smoothed it into a flat sheet, and then draped it over the metaphysical dome I could feel in my head.

Unfortunately it would take a lot of time, ki, and concentration to fix.

Joy. Another happy project to add to my continuous list.

I started to slip into the trance I needed to be in to harden this layer of my reiki shield, figuring that no one was going to bother me. I had already snapped and snarled at a handful of my fellow students who had tried to reach out the hand of friendship to the new student.

A bell sliced through the air, cutting off the teacher as chairs pushed out and noise exploded, students preparing to rush to the next class, or more likely lunch, since, with my improved hearing, I could hear the rumbling of voices from the cafeteria even from here, despite the fact that is was on the other side of the building and a floor down.

I tried to stay where I was, invisible, feigning sleep. I didn't want to go deal with the smell of noxious school food. My head was already throbbing, my hunger having translated into a migraine to punish me more thoroughly for not feeding it.

Yusuke poked me. "Wake up sleepyhead. It's lunch."

I cracked an eye open so I could glare at him more effectively.

Kuwabara slung the bag that he had acquired at some point during the day over his shoulder. "Ya. It's the best part of the day."

"You keep saying you're in a bad mood because your hungry, so come eat."

I stood up and grabbed my own bag, the one that was stuffed with clothing, meaning that I'd had to lug it _and _an armful of lovely textbooks around all day.

"I've already told you that I do not eat food," I snarled at him.

He shrugged again. "Fine, your loss. The food here is actually edible."

He and Kuwabara headed for he door. I didn't even bother contemplating ditching them this time, but just stormed after them darkly.

It just gets better and better and better…

-----------------------------

Shinsetsu: kind

Itai: ouch

Look guys! One review and I updated the very next day! Think what multiple reviews could do!


	8. Chapter Seven

Hello! And please don't kill me! ::hides in bushes:: This chappie was _supposed_ to go up yesterday, but... ::glares at a certain parent:: my mother had to _command_ me to got to bed. And I've just realized that _eats_ asterics...which means I'll have to go back and fix some stuff at somepoint I think...and that I'm now using :: as the equivalent...

So.... I'm posting yesterday's now, which has been set to go up since 9:00 last night, and I'll post today's later. But first! The thankyous!

**Pen Against Sword**: Yes! And they will keep coming! Or I will allow Hiei to impail me on his sword for my pains!

**Lachwen**: Mweep! Thankie.

**Fate's Child Destiny's Friend**: Welcome to the group, and thanks!

**Beatrix Kiddo**: Of course I updated! And thanks. I like Kisu too.

Kisu: but they're not _supposed_ to like me....

::shoves demon back into the closet:: Shut up and take the praise, baka!

**--------------------------**

**Chapter 7**

**Keiko…**

Keiko sat at her lunch table with her friends, head resting on her hand, bored.

A flurry of movement caught her eye and she turned her head slightly to find her boyfriend, Yusuke, and Kuwabara scarfing down food. She shook her brown bobbed head and rolled her equally chocolate eyes.

She _was _glad that Yusuke had finally gotten closer to a couple of people; she just wished it wasn't Kuwabara sometimes. He could be so annoying, and have absolutely no clue what it was that he was doing wrong.

She sighed, exasperated with him, even from a difference. She'd known about Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Kurama being Spirit World detectives since they had participated in the Dark Tournament earlier that year, and that had been when she had met Hiei and Yukina. She had already known Botan and Shizuru, Kuwabara's sister.

Krystal giggled as she dropped into the seat next to Keiko, having gone and gotten lunch, which meant it was either pizza or spaghetti.

"Hi Keiko!" Her long, straight, thick, brown hair bounced as she waved hyperly, despite the fact that she was carrying a lunch tray.

Hannah dropped into the seat on the other side of her, glaring at Krystal. "She's been blabbering again. It's driving me insane." The girl's green hazel eyes were flashing angrily. "If you don't stop Krystal, I'm going to go eat at another table."

Krystal tried to match Hannah's glare for a minute, but failed, and ended up giggling, hiding her mouth behind a hand gleefully.

"What is she obsessing over now."

"Not what, who."

The two of them turned their heads and stared at Krystal with exasperation. She just giggled.

"What? I'm not allowed to look at the new guy?"

Keiko tilted her head to the side. "I heard there was a new girl too, though."

Hannah replied. "I heard that too, and that somehow Urameshi ended up as her guide."

Keiko looked back at the table where Yusuke was still stuffing his face, and noticed a girl slumped over on her face that she hadn't before.

She stood up. "Come on guys, let's go meet her."

Krystal just shook her head. Hannah stood up.

"Nu-uh, I heard she's got a real nasty attitude. Even worse than that punk Urameshi's."

Keiko's eyes flashed. "Krystal."

She had the sense to look sheepish. "Sorry Keiko, I know how much you care about him, but he just scares me." She shivered, but perked up when she spotted a tall blond walking towards the table from the other side of the room. "Besides." She giggled when he waved, and waved back. "I invited Tom to eat lunch with me today."

Hannah slapped her forehead with a hand and grabbed her tray. "I'm eating somewhere else. I'm not listening to you flirt for an hour."

Krystal giggled again and Keiko watched Tom curiously.

"He's from Europe. He even has a British accent. Isn't that dreamy?" Krystal said, eyes sparkling.

Keiko laughed. "Yes, I guess. Just don't scare this one away."

Krystal giggled. "I'll try."

A group of girls waved at Hannah. "I'm going to go eat with Caity and Laura again, okay? I'm not that comfortable around Yusuke either."

"It's fine. Go ahead. I'll see you later." Keiko waved to the two of them, smiling, as she started towards Yusuke's table, just as the tall blond dropped into the seat she had vacated.

"Hi Krystal. Is it just me or is this school bloody huge?" Krystal was right. He really did have a British accent.

She stopped by the new girl's chair.

"Hi. I'm Keiko." She stuck out her hand.

The girl's head shot up off of her arms from where it had been resting. "I thought I told you people to leave me alone." Her eyes were slightly bloodshot, like she hadn't gotten enough sleep.

Keiko withdrew her hand and met the girl's glare with one of her own. "Fine. I was just trying to be nice." Keiko walked past her to where Yusuke and Kuwabara were sitting. The girl's gaze emptied into something more curious, though still not friendly. It was more assessing.

"Hajimemashite." The word was said rather grudgingly, though not entirely unfriendly. She let her head drop back to the table.

The boys stopped eating and stared. Yusuke spoke through a mouthful of food. "That's the nicest we've heard you be all day, Kisu."

She spoke with her head still against the table. "If they deserve it, I'm not rude." She lifted her head again slightly to glare at the boy. "She didn't run. She deserved it."

Yusuke shrugged and stuffed more food into his mouth, making his next words nearly impossible to understand.

"Hi Keiko."

"Hi Yusuke." She nodded in Kuwabara's direction. "Kuwabara." He tried to grin through a mouthful of food. She looked away, slightly disgusted. "How do you know her?"

Yusuke shrugged again. "I don't really. How much do you want to know?"

Keiko thought for a minute and then dropped into the seat opposite him. "If she's at school with you it can't be that bad, if you mean what I think you do, so just tell me everything."

He flashed a smile at her. "We had a raid this morning, and it looks like she was at least mildly involved with the guy we arrested."

"So?"

"_So_…Koenma threatened to put the two of us…" He motioned to himself and Kuwabara. "…on probation if we skip any more school or don't get our grades up."

He stopped and looked a little embarrassed. "So we were wondering…"

"If I'll tutor you again."

He looked relieved, and shrugged and nodded, like it wasn't as bad if he didn't have to actually say it.

She glared at him levelly, and then shrugged, a smile very like his flitting across her face. "I've been hanging around you too much Urameshi."

He matched her smile. "I should hope so. We _are_ going out."

She suddenly blushed and looked down at the table. He laughed and reached out to tap her chin with a gentle finger.

"Kisu was scheduled to start here today anyway," he said, continuing with the explanation from earlier. "Which means she has a human family, or similar connections around here somewhere, and would be missed if Koenma just yanked her out of school and threw her into prison. He didn't even have a file on her earlier. We're taking her in for questioning directly after last bell."

He looked thoughtful for a minute. "At least that was the plan earlier. Kurama or Hiei should know. And if not, Botan will show up and kick all our sorry asses." He flashed a wolfish grin at her.

Keiko looked at him, once again exasperated, and reached across the table to whack him across the head.

Kisu lifted her head and snarled at the two. "Stop talking about my future like I'm not here." Once again her head dropped into its previous position.

Keiko stared at the girl that was, to all appearances, once more passed out on the tabletop.

"Has she been like this all day?"

Yusuke glanced at the unresponsive Kisu from the corner of his eyes, as though he had ceased to be merely fed up, and passed into the realm of wanting to chop her head off, meaning she had been grating on his nerves in proportions equal to those of Kuwabara, even if not for the same reason, hours ago. Kuwabara nodded vigorously, mouth still overfull, sandwich halfway to his face.

Keiko looked at the girl curiously. Kisu stood up and started to walk away.

Yusuke stood up too, face obviously wary. "Where are you going." It was a statement, no question, demanding an answer.

She froze. The look on her face as she turned was feral. "I'm going to the restroom." A sneer twisted her lips. "But feel free to keep gossiping while I'm gone. I'll be back to listen shortly."

She spun and stormed down the aisle of the cafeteria, almost stalking, her black mood emanating from her as something almost tangible, causing students to turn and mutter as she passed. She didn't pause; just let the door slam on her way out.

Keiko's words so Yusuke as he sat again seemed to sum it all up.

"I hope _she's_ not around for too long."

-------------------------

Hajmemashite: nice to meet you.


	9. Chapter Eight

And here's the second chapter I promised, for those of you who are even paying attention to my pointless blather!

---------------------------------

**Chapter 8**

**Hiei…**

Hiei had been watching all day. He didn't trust the bakas to keep a good enough eye on the girl.

There was almost always a tree or something he could perch in or on and be able to see into the classrooms. She had been in all of Kuwabara and Yusuke's classes so far that day, meaning that he had had to watch them be their usual idiotic selves as well. It had seemed as though she had finally gotten her formal schedule during lunch, but it hadn't appeared to have made much of a difference.

Hiei smirked, soaking in what must be a never-ending torture for her. As far as he was concerned she deserved it after this morning.

It seemed that Keiko and her friends were now in her afternoon classes as well. He had met Keiko, but had never seen any point in meeting her other ningen friends. What was the point? Ningens were always so weak. He hadn't even seen a point in meeting her.

"Bakayarous," he muttered under his breath as he lounged in a tree spying on what appeared to be a calculus class.

He was actually rather curious as to how Yusuke and Kuwabara had managed to get enrolled in such a high level class.

Kisu. Whatever she was, it definitely was not human, as Koenma had thought.

He was still seething over her taunting this morning.

And she had sensed him every single time he had tried to use his telepathy on her since the first time he had used it to snatch her name. He suspected that she probably knew it was him. It had been a stupid thing on his part. Now she knew one of his strengths, while he still knew so very little about her.

It was true that she had awful shields that didn't even prevent him from entering any part of her mind, but he had only been able to pick up surface thoughts before she had sensed him as he had tried to move deeper into her head. He was guessing that this meant she was highly attuned to subtle shifts in various spirit energies, including her own.

He could have gone deeper despite that, but with her aware of him things could have gone very wrong for him, especially if she knew anything about telepathy and how to turn the attackers powers back against them.

Which seemed even more likely than it had earlier, since her shields had strengthened already, even since that morning.

He supposed that was impressive, since it meant he had to be careful now just to pick up the surface thoughts, but it just annoyed him more.

As it was he had only picked up that she was bored, hungry, tired, and already knew all of the content that the teachers were trying to teach her. The first few times that he had attacked her mind he had been able to get a little more before retreating, such as her only relative being her father, and that he was out of town.

Not really very helpful.

He was getting bored sitting up here. He could be off fighting somewhere if he wasn't so sure things would get screwed up without either him or Kurama paying attention to what's going on.

He slipped into the mind of one of the other students. Ningens minds always had very little, or no, intentional shielding, so it was a quick and easy task.

Ten minutes until final bell. Good.

He swung off of his branch and into the air, dropping to the ground silently, effortlessly, painlessly, despite the fact that he had just been twenty feet up.

He rose from the feline like crouch he had landed in.

How did he know that no one had seen him perform this amazing feat?

He hadn't sensed any other reiki or youki patterns outside of the school building anywhere, and if he couldn't sense them, then those parties wouldn't be that surprised to see a human looking creature survive a fall of that size. If they were still surprised by something like that and had enough skills to slip under his radar, meaning they were fairly strong, they were stupid and just waiting to meet his blade.

He checked that his katana was still fastened securely to his waist and then sprinted around to the front of the school to stand in the shadows across the street.

His speed made him nothing more than a blur to the human eye, if even that. If a human trained hard enough, in the correct manner, they might be able to someday catch a glimpse of him, but he pitied the sap who did, because he would be sorely tempted to kill any weakling who did see him and didn't deserve to, probation or no.

He heard a rustle in the bushes behind him, and turned, hand already on his blade, in time to see Kurama fading out of the shadows.

He nodded to him and then returned to watching the front of the school.

"How are you here already fox."

Kurama looked at him, a silent smile on his lips.

"My school gets out ten minutes earlier than they do, and, if you don't remember, I'm nearly as fast as you are."

Hiei cast an agitated glance in his direction. "That would mean you should have been here over seven minutes ago."

Kurama allowed himself a small laugh.

"The reason for that is because I stopped at my human mother's house on the way and dropped my school books there."

The school bell rang just then, as Hiei snorted something that sounded remarkably like, "Hn, baka ningens."

Kurama chuckled under the cover of the roar of suddenly released students, and moved up beside Hiei so that he too could watch for when their comrades would emerge from the throngs.

They stood there for a number of minutes, as the students streamed out into the road across the street, onto busses, into cars, down the sidewalk, and then slowly began to disperse.

Finally the two demons caught sight of Yusuke and Kuwabara, looking disgruntled, but no worse for the wear, slumping out of the school, either carrying stuffed backpacks or arms full of books. An even more disgruntled looking Kisu followed, lugging both a stack of textbooks a foot high, and the bag that was stuffed full of her leather jacket and boots.

Kurama stepped out of the shadows and waved an arm, letting them know that they were there. Kurama turned back to say something to Hiei, but he was no longer behind him. Kurama closed his eyes and instantly sensed his friend streaking across the street at full steed, undoubtedly to extract revenge on the girl Kisu.

She looked like the girl in the picture again. Hiei assumed now that the blue hair had been her demon form. Why should he suspect different? That was the way it usually was for average demons. They had a human form that they could switch to when they needed to hide their sometimes not so human appearances.

He dashed around behind her, waiting until she had reached the grass next to the other side of the school street and trailing several feet behind the other detectives before darting in and sweeping a leg behind her knees, meaning to knock her off balance. He reached for her arm as she wind milled, trying not to fall, with every intention of throwing her.

He didn't expect to feel the tug and response to the simple move that her body moved into as soon as he started the technique.

He suddenly found himself flying forward through the air, accompanied by a yell of fury from her.

He still had a hold on her arm though. He twisted his body, changing the way he was flying so that he landed in a crouch, nearly at her feet, and then pivoted his body, pulling her arm down and into his center as though it were his sword, levering the surprised weight of her body over his shoulder.

She landed with an 'oomph' in front of him, flat on her back, but only slightly winded. She glared up at him as he stood from his crouch, sneering down at her. He realized something else too.

She wasn't taller than him. It had just been whatever boots she had been wearing earlier.

She stood up too, still glaring at him, never looking away from him, and dusted herself off yet again. It seemed like she'd had to do that a lot lately.

She realized what he had, and her scowl deepened. Hiei's sneer broadened.

Kurama stepped between them before the contest could start again. He sent Hiei a look that obviously said to cut it out.

Now Kisu was sneering.

Yusuke stepped forward, avoiding Kisu's piles of junk that had gone flying in her and Hiei's quick and rather uneventful skirmish, which had only proved that Hiei was more skilled than her, but also that she wasn't as far behind in skills as they had all thought she was.

He yawned. "So Kurama. Is Botan picking us up or what?"

"That blue-haired girl?" Kisu asked, skeptical.

Yusuke looked at her, in a not exactly friendly way. "Yes."

Her face blanked to a nicely arrogant expression. "No reason to get snappish. I was just asking.

She walked a couple feet away from them while they rehashed what had happened that morning, meaning everyone but Hiei discussed what had occurred.

She started pulling off the school jacket and kicked off the school shoes before pulling her bag near her and dropping to the ground.

She pulled out the boots from earlier and started putting them back on, and looked up when Hiei stepped in front of her, blocking her sunlight.

"What are you doing."

"What does it look like," she snarled up at him.

He glared at her.

She kept pulling at her boots and then, once they were on, stood up, shrugging back into her much more punk leather jacket.

She once again towered over Hiei. They sneered at each other before she had to crouch to stuff the other jacket and shoes back into the bag and gather up all of her many new books, all of which promised to be boring.

She stood again, holding everything in one arm, so that she could reach into the pocket of her coat to pull out all of the earrings she had been forced to take out for school.

She smiled at him and then closed her eyes.

He felt her spirit energy suddenly shift and bow out around her. His eyes narrowed and his hand began to inch closer to his sword again. She reached up to her ears and fastened all the earrings into holes that hadn't been there a moment before.

Her energy was still bubbling around her though.

Her hair shimmered and the black coils began to straighten out until it was nearly to her waist again.

He was expecting it to return to the blue and purple from earlier, so was rather surprised when instead it shimmered to a silvery white and then shortened to about a foot above where it had been earlier, completely straight, with no waves or curl, utterly and completely different from either of the styles he had seen her with that day.

She opened her eyes slowly, grinning coldly, as though she knew exactly what effect her transformation would have on him. Her smile widened slightly just like it had that morning when she saw him squinting at her, as though her new appearance was more suspicious than the last two.

"Why did you just show me that. It was stupid."

Her grin got wider still. "Why shouldn't I? There's no point in hiding it from you, since…" She paused and tilted her head to the side, as though listening to the other's conversation, even though their voices were but a faint mumble to Hiei's ears. "…when it seems as though I'll have to explain it to the oh so great Koenma in just a few minutes."

Her glared at her, hand clamped onto his handle. "And what exactly would you be explaining."

She kept smiling. "Wouldn't you just like to know." Her voice was deadly sweet, the face the same as before.

Hiei leaned forward snarling.

She stuck a finger in his face and waved it back and forth. "Ah ah ah. It's not nice to attack a girl when she doesn't have a weapon."

She waited for him to respond. He growled at her.

She definitely knew how much she was annoying him. He could tell by the look on her face.

"Go ask Kurama, he's the one that…"

She stopped speaking, triumph flashing briefly across her face, as Hiei lunged at her, katana popping out of it's sheath with the whisper of metal on leather, shifting slightly to the side, setting up some sort of plan.

Just as they both thought they would be assured bloodshed of some sort a portal snapped open between them, throwing both of them to the ground in opposite directions a good ten feet away.

They both jumped to their feet snarling, ready to attack, blaming the sudden flying trip on the other, to find a surprised and slightly scared Botan hovering mid-air.

Her oar jumped a good five feet higher in the air before landing near the others. Kisu and Hiei's eyes followed her like two cat watching a mouse, the anger in their eyes at her the only emotion on their otherwise perfectly smooth faces.

She giggled nervously before turning to Kurama, Yusuke, and Kuwabara. "Are you sure it's okay to leave the two of them over there alone? It doesn't look like they get along."

Yusuke yawned again and then answered as though he didn't really care. "Exactly. I'm sick of putting up with her. At least if she and Hiei are fighting we don't have to worry to hard about her getting away."

"Um, okay," Botan said, rubbing the back of her head trying to accept Yusuke's odd logic.

She finally gave up on making sense of anything that Yusuke had come up with and delivered the message she had come through to give them.

"Koenma said that he's been waiting for over ten minutes and that you should have come through immediately."

Yusuke looked at her, annoyed. "Tell binky breath that next time he wants us on time he should make sure we have a portal."

She scribbled that down on a pad of paper that she had pulled out of her sleeve. "I'm not sure how much he'll like that message, Yusuke."

He just looked at her. "Since when have I cared?"

"Right. Let's go then."

"Yup. Before those two stare each other to death."

Said two turned their stares from each other to Yusuke as he sauntered between them, ignoring them, through the portal, followed by Kuwabara and an amused Kurama.

Hiei went back to glaring at Kisu until she growled at him and stalked through the portal, immediately followed by him.

God. He hated the Ningenkai. Even the Reikai was better than it, though he would much rather prefer the crime-laden freedom of the Makai.

As soon as they were all through Botan gave a relieved sigh, flicked a bead of sweat off of her forehead with the tip of a finger, and zoomed through the portal on her oar, snapping a finger on her way, causing it to snap shut behind her.

6


	10. Chapter Nine

And here's the next installment...

**Black-Fire-Ryu:** Kisu's not exactly a goth, persay, that's just how she comes across. She is who she is. (Kisu: And there was no one in that chapter who was superior to me ::glares::) Kisu, you need to be quiet. (Kisu: And you need to stop messing with my life.) Right. I'll try to talk her into being a little nicer to our favorite Kajihenge, but it might take a while.

**Fate, Asilin, and Beatrix: **I hope the chapter lives up to your expectations then! ::sweatdrops:: But I despise Mary-Sues as well, so go to extreme lengths to do everything I can to _avoid_ writing about them.

---------------------------------

**Chapter 9**

**Kisu…**

We were standing in a hallway in front of huge golden doors.

"Are we going in or not?"

They all turned and stared at me.

I shrugged. "I'm the one on trial, so why are you all nervous."

Yusuke glared at me.

Yippee. I was making lots of friends with this bunch.

"Fine." I stepped forward and pushed the doors open myself, finding that they were heavier than they had looked, but not impossible to move. It just took a little more effort than usual to make it look effortless.

The door swung open and I found myself staring at a very familiar room.

Crap. I didn't want to be here, and if this was the same room as the one I thought is was then…

…just crap. I was beyond screwed.

I took a deep breath as the others drifted into the room around me, all to their respective spots. I noticed that Hiei stood against the far wall. That's where I would have stood if I thought I had a choice over where I had to sit. Old habits die hard, even when highly unused, and one of mine was watching the entire room and the exits so that I couldn't be snuck up on. Being snuck up on is bad. Very bad.

I wasn't gathering myself so much to make myself do this, as to make myself do this right. I felt a tiny thrill of excitement run through me.

If I admitted to all of my crimes, which really weren't that many, maybe I could get myself punished worse.

Hell, if I'm caught and really in the soup this time I might as well take the opportunity to sink myself.

I let a sly smile sit on my lips as I sauntered into the room and took the last chair, directly in front of the desk. I swung my boots up so that my feet were resting on the desk and folded my arms behind my head. I looked around the room lazily, like a cat, promising myself that I wouldn't have any more of the outbursts I've been having all day.

I'd been really bad about controlling myself. I'd been slipping a lot. If it had just been the morning smashing of the alarm clock it would have been okay, but then I taunted a skilled warrior and possible assassin, was visibly bitchy, annoyed, and tired all day, did some more taunting, and then had another angry outburst. Not my best. I was definitely not at my best.

The huge chair behind the equally large table began to slowly turn. I smiled at it as a toddler came into view, and then quirked an eyebrow. I wasn't going to speak first, so I waited.

He seemed to be waiting for me to speak first. Right. He finally gave up on waiting for me to speak first and opened his eyes, unfolding his hands from the table top in front of him.

He froze and then demanded sharply in his high voice, "Who is this."

Hiei answered, speaking, therefore surprising every one. "Kisu Tanira. She is not human Koenma."

He cleared his throat. "Ehem, I realized that this morning after watching the tapes. How many forms has she taken." He directed the question at the others, not at me.

Yusuke answered. "Three. One with blue hair, hair like the one in the picture, black and curly, and this white."

Koenma's stare narrowed in on me. I gave him an I-know-something-you-don't-know grin. His eyes narrowed.

"You seem familiar."

I dropped the friendly smile and flashed a more sinister one, one that was much more intimidating with fangs, one that I had used on him before.

His eyes widened slightly.

"Ogre!"

The blue man ran into the room.

"Check the sources! Find out the last known activities of blood buyer code name Bloodmonger!"

"Yes sir!" The ogre ran from the room, as though trying to escape the explosion that now seemed eminent.

"Are you Bloodmonger!" He was yelling at me. Yay. Did I answer his question? No. I grinned at him again.

"Answer me!" His head was steaming. Goody, he was angry.

I suppose this counts as letting my emotions take advantage of me, but how can I not give into them every now and then. Even if it is weakness, it's immensely fun.

I felt the jab at the back of my head again, deeper and faster than it had been earlier throughout the day, more similar to what it had been this morning when the black haired one had stolen my name, but sharper because I had just enough shielding to make it painful for me, but not enough to prevent him from doing anything. Kuso.

"She is the Bloodmonger." Hiei looked at Koenma. "Explain what that means, toddler."

I glared at all of them. "Maybe if you hadn't confiscated my breakfast I wouldn't be quite so cranky and you wouldn't have to resort to cheap mind reading tricks."

Hiei glared at me. I knew it was him, but I still didn't know his name. "I doubt you actually need blood to survive."

"Want to bet?"

He sneered at me. "Your just another junkie that's become addicted to the taste of human blood."

I scowled. Could I get away with trying to beat him to a pulp in here again?

"Enough!" We all looked at Koenma.

"Are you the Bloodmonger."

I shrugged. What did I have to lose? "Yes."

Koenma sighed and sat back down in his chair. He had jumped up while yelling at us.

"This morning we thought you were a human that had somehow stumbled upon the blood trade. Then, upon realizing you were some sort of demon, we assumed you were some sort of blood junkie. If you are the Bloodmonger then your charges will be more than tripled."

He looked at me oddly, as though trying to match me with an image in his head.

I knew what image he was trying to match me to, so I closed my eyes and changed to it. What can I say? I enjoy messing with people's sanity levels.

I plucked at the cords of my powers again until, when I opened my eyes, I had short spiked, hot pink hair, yellow eyes, fangs, and a small, black kanji symbol by the corner of my left eye.

"Now do I match?"

He scowled at me and Yusuke let out an exasperated growl.

"How many forms does she even have!"  
Koenma said, "I'm not sure, but it would appear to be at least four."

I flashed fang at him. His look went from thoughtful to glowering.

He was probably remembering our last meeting.

I grinned. I had liked our last meeting. I hadn't known he was ruler of the spirit world then, but the added information now just made the memory sweeter.

Kurama was the one that finally pulled us out of the staring contest, mine amused, Koenma's full of dislike, to what we were supposed to be dealing with now.

"Sir, would you mind explaining what is going on. I believe that none of us have ever heard of the Bloodmonger."

Hiei sneered. "Speak for yourself fox. She's been a prominent name in the Makai for years, even before you forced us to stay in Ningenkai." He said this part to Koenma in a rather testy voice, as though it was his fault. Interesting.

I was curious who this was, had been this morning, but had grown more so every time he opened his mouth. Most people who worked for spirit world intelligence didn't pay attention to all of the small flashes in the underground info system.

Now he was looking at me. I settled on matching his look with one of my own that matched, meaning I ended up glaring at him angrily with my yellow eyes.

"No one can ever track her down after a meeting, and no one can agree on what she looks like."

I scowled at him. I felt him move this time before feeling his energy in my mind. I thrust out with a spear of my own, heading him off.

"A few people have come up with the theory that Bloodmonger is a shape shifter. It would explain how she always disappears so effortlessly, and why the reports on her appearance never match up."

Everyone was staring at Hiei with me now. I guess he doesn't talk much.

Koenma cleared his throat again, bringing attention back to him. "Actually, after Bloodmonger escaped a couple years ago, our teams came to the same conclusion"

Yusuke opened his mouth to blurt something else stupid out. "What do you mean escaped."

Koenma sweat dropped. "We caught her, but she escaped before we could question her."

I wanted to laugh at him. He was making it sound so official.

"I knocked him out and stole a uniform from a guard and slipped through a high-security portal."

Koenma glared at me. "Yes. I know. I wasted two weeks trying to find you after that."

I glared right back at him. "And I wasted two weeks trying to get to Spain from mid-Russia. The least you could have done was drop me closer to home. I was lucky my dad was on a business trip."  
Koenma scowled. "You weren't supposed to escape."

"Well I did. And now you have me again anyway. So it doesn't matter."

Koenma perked up and I scowled more. The guy really wasn't that bad, but he was on the opposite side of the line from me.

Ogre ran back in carrying a large stack of papers. "This is all the information we have on Bloodmonger sir!"

He dumped it on the desk and turned to run back out of the room, but squeaked when he saw me.

I couldn't resist. I flashed fang at him, causing him to scream with fear and cower against the wall.

A vein popped in Koenma's forehead. "Just get out Ogre, and bring the information I ordered on Kisu Tanira in here as well."

"Can I just know what my sentence is? And if you're ever going to let me eat again?"

Koenma glared at me, clearly telling me to shut up.

"Bloodmonger has one count of taking blood from an unwilling human."

"I was new to the world, I didn't quite realize that it was illegal, or that I wouldn't be able to resist the urge to bite if I didn't keep myself fed."

He looked at me. I shut up.

"Three counts of buying blood from illegal sources."

I smirked. "Those are just the times you caught me."

He scowled.

"And ten counts of assaulting an officer, just from that time we arrested you."

I shrugged. I wasn't going to argue with that. Why argue about something that you had enjoyed?

"According to your charges you should be imprisoned for a minimum of one year, maximum of twenty, in the spirit world detainment facilities."  
I sighed. That was boring, and wouldn't even work since I think my father would notice if I was gone for that long.

"But, because you are, I assume, part human, as you have a human family, this is not a desirable course of action, as it would cause unneeded investigations by human police."

That was okay I suppose, though I don't really want to spend all that time with my dad anyways.

"Instead I am putting you on probation and setting limits similar to those of Hiei…"

"Hiei?"

Koenma pointed at the black-haired telepath, annoyed to have been interrupted. "That is Hiei Jaganshi. Did they even bother introducing themselves?"

I shrugged. "No."

He threw up his arms. "Why do I even bother!" He pointed to each of the boys in turn. "Suichi Minamino, or Youko Kurama." I looked at him, slightly surprised. I had heard the stories from some of my suppliers, the ones that I used for a while before moving or finding someone else.

I looked at Hiei again. Was he really the Jaganshi? That would explain why his mind powers seemed so forceful. The Jagan eye was supposed to enhance natural abilities. That meant that I would have to work really hard if I ever wanted to keep him out of my head. I glowered at him. He scowled back.

"And Yusuke Urameshi and Kuzuma Kuwabara."

"And you're Koenma Daioh, ruler of the spirit world in the stead of your father."

"Yes, I was about to say that." He glared at he, arms crossed, pacifier bobbing up and down in his mouth. "Can I continue with you sentence now?"

I shrugged. I wasn't going to listen so why did it matter?

"You may not leave Tokyo or the Ningenkai without my expressed permission. Unless you are at your home with your human father…"

"Half human, baby. He's where I got my shape shifter genes."

If I giggled, I might have giggled at the expression on his face. It looked like he was going to spit fire. I was sick of this so I just let my lips flick up in a half smile, taunting him, before frowning again.

His voice was strained when he spoke next. "Since it appears that there is so much more about you that we don't know, why don't you just tell me what your heritage is now."

I smiled at him. "Half blood, a quarter shifter, and a quarter human."

I enjoyed seeing him pale slightly when I said blood. We are known notoriously for our blood lust, not that I actually inherited that particular curse. I just get really really really hungry.

"Then, as part of your probation, you are not allowed to hunt, or acquire blood from any source other than myself."

He was so fun to tweak. "Does that mean I get to drain the ruler of Reikai dry?"

He paled a little more, realizing what he had just said.

"No." He gulped. I noticed that the others, except for Kurama, seemed to be enjoying the tiny rulers discomfort. "It means that I will send you a case of bottled blood, that has been attained legally once a week."

I shrugged. "Whatever." If I was going to get free blood I wasn't going to argue that hard. I hate paying my expenses out of pocket.

I heard Yusuke whisper to Kurama, "Does that mean that she really does need blood?"

"Yes." I doubt that they knew that I could hear them.

I scowled at Koenma. However I act when I tell people what I am, I hate it, mainly because my relatives have always had such a bad reputation.

Which sometimes meant I gained a certain reputation before even showing what I'm actually like.

But I don't show what I'm really like that often, or to too many people, and usually try to cultivate a reputation similar to that of my tribe, so it doesn't really matter.

I caught Hiei looking at me for a moment similar to how I had been looking at him when I found out that he was the Jaganshi.

Some things just surprise you.

"Is there more, or is that it?" I said, meaning my probation.

Koenma cleared his throat. "And unless you are at your father's house, and he is there, physically within the same building as you, I am requiring you to remain with a member of this team at all times."

I stared at him. No way. "I am not sleeping at any of their houses."

"Yes, you are."

"What will their parents think?"  
Koenma appeared to be thinking for a minute.

"You'll stay with Hiei nights that your father isn't home."

"In other words, I'll be staying at Hiei's every night but one or two a week."

"If that is how often your father is home then yes."

I scowled. Lovely. "Hiei Jaganshi is a demon of the koorime. Why is he living in the Ningenkai."

He scowled right back at me. I could feel Hiei's death glare on the back of my head. I'd definitely gotten myself in deeper trouble than I needed to be this time. I did not need to be at odds with the Jaganshi. My skills just weren't up to it if he tried to kill me.

"Because I put him on probation as well. You've probably heard the rumors as to why so I'm not going to explain it to you." I had, so I didn't argue. Koenma's gaze cut sideways to the fire demon for a minute. "Or you can ask him, later."

Right. That would be similar to committing suicide if all of the rumors I've heard are true. Seeing how he had reacted to my mild taunting, they're probably more than true.

"He has an apartment in the Ningenkai for that reason, because I have commanded him to stay in that world, and, though I doubt he uses it often, it raises less questions if someone has a home and is sleeping in a tree than if someone is sleeping in a tree and has no where else to stay."

Personally, the trees sounded much more preferable to being in the same building with Hiei. I couldn't place my finger on why, or maybe I could, but he got on my nerves, even more now that I knew who he was.

Why do I always have to meet jackasses that are more powerful than I am?

"So he lives alone?"

"Yes, I live alone."

I glared at him. "Was I talking to you, fluff head?"

His eyes were shooting daggers at me. Good. I wanted to take my anger out on something.

"You should have been, considering you are talking about my property."

"But I was discussing it with Koenma, meaning that it didn't matter who it belonged to, because it was his decision."

Kurama leaned over to Koenma while me and Hiei continued to argue. "Are you sure it's wise leave the two of them alone in the same quarters?"

"And if it was up to me you would be no where near me!"  
"Same here, rat face."

"Bloodsucker, I will make your life a living hell if you don't find a way to stay away from me."

I smiled sweetly at him, knowing it would piss him off more. "Actually Jagan head, the name was Blood_monger_, not sucker."

This would be fun. I had found someone who had just as much anger as me, but a worse temper.

I smiled at him, glaring at him with angry, still yellow eyes, as he glowered at me murderously.

Just as I thought we were going to get to fight again, Kurama stepped between us.

"I'm going to stay with the two of you at Hiei's tonight." I guess Koenma decided we weren't safe to be around each other.

I tried to calm myself down. If I could regain control of my emotions before Hiei did it would be almost as good as beating him in a fight.

I managed it. Ha.

"Am I allowed to go back to my house and get things before descending into the inferno?"

Koenma gave me a look that, by the sounds Yusuke and Kuwabara were making, was usually reserved for their stupidity. I grinned at them.

They shut up.

I think they were starting to realize that I could be potentially dangerous and have a short fuse, which usually ends with me getting violent.

It was Koenma that finally answered my question after a couple seconds of this all around glare-fest. "Yes, but you have to have one of them with you."

"Joy." I slumped down in my chair, moping.

"It that it, can we go now?"

"Yes."

"What about my blood."

Koenma looked at me again. "It will be delivered to Hiei's apartment tomorrow."

"What about tonight."

"You seem to have dealt well with your hunger for an entire day. I'm sure you can contain yourself until morning.'

That just made me so happy.

I stood up. "Fine. Then let's leave."

Koenma nodded to Hiei and Kurama. "You two will accompany her to her house. Yusuke and Kuwabara, I need to talk to the two of you before you leave."

A portal opened in the corner of the room. The three of us walked over to it, Kurama passing through it first, followed by me after another glaring contest with Hiei, and him bringing up the rear.

I was pretty much pegged now. How far could I run? I guess he thought I could still get fairly far, since he's been watching me for any sign of escape since this whole thing began.

Yet another portal snapped shut behind me, and I found myself standing in my street, in front of my house, a bodyguard on each side of me, preventing me from running away from any punishment I might be in store for in the next couple years.

At least the day was almost over. That was a comforting thought as I stood in front of another house that was mine but not home.

Better and better…

This day gets better and better…

And it would be just a perfect capper if my dad happened to get home from his meeting wicked earlier.

Ya. That would be great…

---------------------------------------

Kuso: roughly equals 'Damn'


	11. Chapter Ten

Sending apologies to Lachwen, Pen, and Crazy for not responding to your reviews in the last chapter! May I just say that, even if it was already almost one o'clock when I posted the last chapter, I had only been up for an hour and not fully functional yet?

**Fire: **Don't worry about it. Your reviews are amusing, and I'm afraid to admit that I would probably side with Hiei as well, even if it is partly his fault that Kisu was annoyed at him, therefore intentionaly trying to piss him off (Kisu: Damn right he deserved it, Ikeike) Kisu, what have I told you about speaking to your creator? (Kisu: ::glare::) And, yes, it will be very interesting watching them co-inhabitate, very interesting indeed. (::double glare from Kisu _and_ Hiei)

**Lachwen:** I'm glad you're enjoying it!

--------------------------

**Chapter 10**

**Kisu…**

My father hadn't been home, thank god, and the process overall had been a lot less painful than expected.

I had failed to open the front door, after trying to remember the new keypad code and forgetting it each time, at which point Hiei had jabbed my brain again and hijacked the code, which had resulted in another situation where Kurama had had to act as referee.

Let me just say that, if Hiei and me really had been left alone, I wouldn't have trusted us to both be alive come morning. Hell, if one of us happened to die we'd probably find a way to drag the other down with us, so I was betting that, left alone together, neither of us would survive.

I had gone upstairs to my room, followed by Kurama, while Hiei checked out everything downstairs, probably making sure I didn't have anything else illegal.

I wasn't worried. The only illegal substance I deal in is blood, and that's only out of necessity.

Kurama had stood politely by the door while I poked around in my room for various odds and ends, though that was probably more to avoid stepping on any of my junk than anything else.

I grabbed a few non-school uniform outfits so that I wouldn't have to come back for a few days, and grabbed a bigger bag. I, remorsefully, decided to leave my big heals at home, and instead grabbed some more traditional combat boots. They barely gave me an extra inch, but they were better for stealth and agility. I'd already noticed that Hiei wore soft-soled shoes. Those were the best for moving silently, which probably worked better for him since he could already move so fast. I have to depend more on combat skills, and every extra ounce of speed helps, but I also need a harder sole so that my kicks and other foot techniques have at least a mild effect.

I stuffed my spare school uniform into the bag as well, along with the shoes and blazer I had abandoned earlier. I was still wearing my black coat, and that was coming with me.

"Can I bring any weapons?"

Kurama had looked thoughtful. "For protection?"

I shook my head. "No, I need them to train."

Kurama stepped over my piles of stuff carefully to look at the knives and glaive I was holding out. "Yes, for now. If that changes I'll tell you." I nodded and put the weapons with the rest of the stuff I had to bring, grabbing another backpack to shove my school books into, and my weapons bag so that I could carry my glaive down the street without a lot of people giving me strange looks.

I grabbed the knives and their respective sheaths along with an outfit to change into. "Can I have the rest of my knives back too?"  
He said yes, but that he didn't have them with him. I shrugged. "Fine, but those were some of my favorite." I started towards my bathroom. "I'm changing. I don't care what you look at."

He yelled back at me, "Change your eyes to something more normal."

As I closed the door to the bathroom he was picking up the remains of my poor alarm clock, and I was wondering how I was going to wake up on time for classes tomorrow, especially if I hadn't had blood.

I stripped out of the school uniform and pulled on a pair of jeans. They had been normal, once upon a time, but I had painted black and white stripes all over them, making them more original, more me. The top I was wearing now was a simple black tank top, cut so it ended just below my belly button, with a white skull on it.

I stood looking into the mirror. It seems that every time I can dress how I want, I end up looking like a punk, a Goth, a rebel. Is that who I am, or just who I come off as?

I closed my eyes and smoothed the hastily formed knot out of my rei, returning my eyes to the customary gray I usually wore them as. I left the kanji symbol. People would assume it was a tattoo, but I yanked on the cords for my hair and returned it to the silvery white, though this time I left it in the short spiky style I had put it in for the pink. I just took a couple seconds to resettle the knot, and make sure it wouldn't slip out too soon.

That was the only thing about being a shape shifter and doing things the way I do. It's all conscious, and I don't know if the way I do things is how all shape shifters do it, or just me. I've never met another one who actually knows how to use their powers.

Over time my forms start to slip. I have to pay constant attention to them, because they drain my energy even more and even faster when the knots are lose than when tight.

Bleh. I was sick of this.

I grabbed the pills I had taken last night out of the medicine cabinet and stuffed them in my pocket, after popping one in my mouth and swallowing it. My reaction this time wasn't as fierce as it had been last time, the night before. I hadn't remembered to take them for a couple of days, and that always makes things worse.

I swayed, felt like I was going to pass out for a second, and then was fine, except for a gut wrenching return of the full force of how hungry I was, doubled by taking the pills.

And me without any supper. Yay.

I straightened, and strapped my blades to the undersides of my wrists, so that the sleeves of my coat would hide them, not so much from Kurama and Hiei as from passerby on the street.

When I went back into my room Kurama and Hiei were both standing there. I pulled my coat back on and put the uniform I had just taken off in the bag with the other one.

"Are you ready to go yet?" Hiei asked sounding irked.

I shrugged and grabbed my bags off of the bed and walked out of the room. Kurama followed, but Hiei suddenly appeared below me on the stairs. "I asked you a question, baka onna. If I ask a question I want an answer."

"Hai. Whatever. Now get out of my way."

He snarled at me, but stepped out of the way.

"You don't know where my apartment is so it doesn't matter."

He was right. Shit.

I kept walking though. I didn't let him know that I realized he was right.

Once we were all outside and on the sidewalk again he snarled as though disgusted with my weaknesses and me and flashed away down the street.

Right. There was no way I could keep up with that.

Kurama stepped up behind me and placed a hand on my shoulder. I nearly jumped out of my skin and barely stopped myself from trying to throw him like I had Hiei earlier.

And admittedly, I felt slightly better remembering that, despite the fact that it had been me who had ended up on the ground in the end. I would get him eventually. I just had to kick up my practicing again. Maybe I'll be able to get one of these chumps to practice with me.

"I'll show you where his place is." I pulled away from him harshly. One of my bags started to slip off my shoulder.

Damn. Three big bags are too many. I grabbed for it, but Kurama caught the falling bag before I did and slung it over his own shoulder. "I'll carry it."

"Fine." I started down the street in the direction that Hiei had gone.

"That's the wrong way." I turned around and stalked back to him.

"Fine. Then show me the way."

He looked at me thoughtfully and then pointed in the opposite direction. I was betting it was just like Hiei to lay a false trail.  
I took off in that direction, Kurama trailing behind me, until I reached the corner and realized that I still didn't know where to go next. I stopped and turned around to glare at the fox demon that was still only half way to where I was, like he was being slow on purpose, maybe to see how I would react.

He paused when he finally reached the street corner before tuning left. He stopped and looked back at me a few steps later, when I didn't immediately follow.

I sighed and fell into step behind him, and we moved at a steady jog for the rest of the way.

I suppose I should feel lucky that I have a fairly open ended punishment, that only requires me to stick with one of my jailer's at all times, but I don't. It's just another chapter in my boring existence that must be put up with and dealt with before the blissful calm of death.

---------------------------------

Hai: yes, sure.


	12. Chapter Eleven

**Pen: **Um...gomen? And arigatou? At least all the words I used actually exist, even if my definitions are...slightly...off, and _was_ calling swearwords swearwords. I don't do plaigarism, ever, even if it means typing a research paper from scratch the night before it's due, so no worries, but I can't tell you what creative idea your story sparked becaues it would ruin the surprise! It's not 'till near the end of the story though, and that's a while away. 'All time favorite stories' ::feels loved:: I can now die happy! ::sigh::

**Fire: **::laughs:: If only for that reason I shall now_have_ to continue to update.

**Jasmine: **Updating fast is good though, right? The ideas just keep hopping, and refuse to leave me alone... ::stabs over-active imagination:: Hiei! ::glomps leather wearing demon boy:: Meep!

**Asilin:** What's the point of life if you can't smother it in sarcasm? And if I update, you better too! Otherwise....I will be forced to come up with some kind of punishment...can't think of one now...

**Lintered**:Mweep! More people's! Welcome-ness-es!

------------------------------------------

**Chapter 11**

**Kisu…**

We had gotten to Hiei's at 6:00. It had taken us over an hour to jog there. It had probably taken Hiei less than five minutes. Have I mentioned that I hate short people who are faster than me? Even Kurama could probably have made it to the building long before I could if I had known the way and had actually been trying to run.

This whole experience is just making it painfully clear that I need to start training more seriously again. After not needing any of the things you learned as a child for a while you start to let the skills slip because you don't seem to need them anymore.

That philosophy, of not practicing skills that I don't need right that minute, has always come back to bite me.

The apartment was actually very nice, far nicer than I had expected it to be.

It was a floor and a half. The door opened off of the front hall of the building on the first floor into a huge living room, which was adjoined to a full sized kitchen. Stairs wrapped around the walls in two half flights. There was one bedroom on the first landing, and a second at the top of the flight. The top one was the guest bedroom.

Upon finally arriving I had said I would sleep on the couch. Kurama had said that no, he would sleep on the couch and I would take the room because I was going to be staying there for longer than he was. Hiei said that I got the room because it would be harder for me to sneak out of it than the living room, especially if I would have to go past his door to get to the first floor.

Which is why I got to reclaim my clothing bag from Kurama and drag that, along with my weapon's bag, up the stairs to the room.

At least the room's a dark blue. If it had been white, or some awful mint, like most guest rooms are, I would have been seriously annoyed. I do not sleep in rooms that are painted light colors. The walls reflect too much light for me to sleep even if the lights are all off. I need dark.

After dumping my bags and leaving my coat and knives up there, I had gone back to the living room and spread out my homework around the couch, while Kurama and Hiei discussed whatever in the kitchen. I picked up a couple of words, because of my improved hearing, but not much; just enough that I was fairly sure that they were discussing me.

Whatever. It's not like I really care what they think.

The teacher's had told me that all the makeup work they had given me would probably take me about seven hours total to complete. They were thinking as though I hadn't learned all this information multiple times already and would have to look stuff up and research it before doing all the papers and worksheets. As it was it only took me an hour, leaving me with five chapters worth of the literature book to sludge through.

Wonderful. I had just settled back on the couch, book in lap, the rest of my stuff back in my bag, ready to read, when a doorbell tolled.

I opened my mouth to yell to the two of them in the kitchen, but Hiei had flashed out to the door before I could say anything.

"Hey Hiei." Yusuke and Kuwabara strolled into the living room and dropped their backpacks on the other white leather couch that was in the room. There were two white leather couches, a love seat, and a matching recliner clustered around a cute coffee table and large screen TV. I doubt that Hiei would actually care enough about the apartment to decorate it, or even spend money to get it decorated, so I was betting that it had been Koenma that did it or had it done.

Yusuke waved to Kurama as he dropped onto the couch. "Hiei, your place has some style."

"Hn." Hiei ignored him and went and sat in an alcove that was cut into the wall. It was like a bench. There were no windows in the place. I could just see him sitting on a windowsill instead of a chair though.

"We figured we'd come over here and help you watch Kisu." The look Yusuke gave me said that he obviously didn't trust me. That's okay, since I don't trust him either. Why should I trust any of them? I just met them. And they arrested me.

I glared at him. "I'm not going to run, baka," I snarled at him. "And where would I run too?"

He shrugged and started pulling stuff out of his bag.

"Hey Kurama! You want to help us with some of this work! Me and Kuzuma have tons!"

"I was going to make some food."

Yusuke's expression froze for a second and then split into a grin. "Go ahead and do that then. We'll just shuffle through it on our own."

I returned to reading the Literature textbook but couldn't help asking them, "I thought Keiko was going to help you?"

He stared at me blankly before remembering that I had been there when he had asked her. "Oh. Ya. She has club meetings and stuff tonight. She said she'd help us tomorrow."

I shrugged and went back to the book again, to suddenly find Kuwabara looming over the back of the couch staring at me.

"Kisu, your eyes are like rock hard boulders, your hair dandelion weeds. I have never seen anyone as beautiful as you. Say that you will be my girlfriend and go on a date with me."

I stared at him for a minute, and then asked Yusuke, "Is he always like this or is he on drugs?"

Yusuke laughed, like he was surprised that I could make a joke and not explode at someone. I didn't smile with him, but whatever.

He choked on his tongue as he said, "Naw, that's just Kuwa. Ignore him. He doesn't know what he's doing."

His eyes sharpened and he studied me for a minute. "The teachers gave you tons of make-up work today. Shouldn't you be doing it?"

I didn't glare at him like I might have if I was trying to work at being nasty. I was probably going to have to put up with these people for a while. Bland would probably be the best approach to avoid unnecessary murder attempts, from others and from me, except in the case of Hiei. I think the two of us are too far down the warpath to turn back, but I don't really care.

"I did it already."

His face turned skeptical. "But they gave you, like, seven hours worth of stuff."

"Yep."

"Then how are you done?"

"It was easy." I was having issues with this book.

"Have you read this book before?" I held up the textbook to show him.  
He nodded. "Ya, that's usually the only homework I ever actually do."

I stared at him, trying to assess how he might take my proposal. I didn't really want to help him, but it would get him off my case and solve my issue with the textbook.

"If I help the two of you with your work will you help me go over the literature chapters without having to read the textbook."

He leaned back like he was thinking about it. "Did you really do all that work already?"  
Kurama walked by the door to the kitchen carrying a huge bowl of lettuce. "She did, Yusuke. I saw her."

Kuwabara was still standing over my sofa, but he was starting to drool. I watched him warily as I answered. "See. I told you." Kuwabara started to sidle closer to me again.

"Okay then. You help us with this stuff. I help you with the book. Agreed?"

"Agreed. Just get this giant drool machine away from me."

Kuwabara snapped out of his daze and managed to look offended. "Hey, that wasn't very nice."

"No. It wasn't. Now get away from me."

Kuwabara dragged his feet as he slumped over to the loveseat and dropped onto it, moping.

"Right. So what do you have for work."

Yusuke grinned and picked his bag up, dumping all of the stuff onto the coffee table.

I grimaced.

"Fun, huh?"  
"Ya. Let's get started."

I swung off of the couch so that I was leaning against it, sitting on the floor instead, and grabbed one of his books.

It was the calculus one.

Those two really are hopeless. It took me an hour and a half to explain how to do ten problems that had taken me a total of five minutes to do on my own.

3


	13. Chapter Twelve

A random quote shall now randomly be inserted at the beginning of this chapter, because I have nothing else to put here!

friend: Sorry about the ranting.  
me: It's okay. Ranting is good. It keeps us from killing the innocent bystanders.  
friend: You're right. And I'm running out of places to hide the bodies...  
me: That's why it's nice living by a smelly, ol' river.

Just felt like sharing.... This was a conversation I had a couple of days ago.... Here's the chappie, and please don't hurt me for above random-ness.... that would make it slightly difficult to update...

-----------------------------------

**Chapter 12**

**Kisu…**

The next few days went pretty much the same. I sat with Yusuke and Kuwabara, and Keiko too if she was in them, during class to fulfill the requirements of my probation. I did my work, and then spent the rest of class sleeping.

Once teachers realized that I was getting hundreds and A's on everything they just left me alone and let me. It worked well.

Koenma was as good as his word, but the blood didn't arrive until the middle of the next day, Tuesday, so I had to go to school starving again. There were a couple of times when I was very close to blowing it and attacking someone that pissed me off. If Yusuke and Kuwabara hadn't been there to remind me that I was already in more trouble than I should be, I probably would have.

And ripped someone's throat out and been arrested by the Ningens.

Which probably would have led to me being taken into Spirit world custody anyway.

Joy.

By Wednesday, though, I had plenty of blood and was able to drink enough that I was almost in a cheerful mood after my near murderous intentions of Monday and Tuesday.

Kurama only stayed at Hiei's with us that first night, after which it seemed that, if Hiei and me stayed out of each other's way, we would be able to habitat together in his apartment fairly well.

Well meaning that we were both still breathing and not attempting to murder the other. I think that's pretty good considering what the two of us are like around each other.

It's become fairly apparent that the two of us hate each other with no reconciliation in sight.

Today's Thursday. My father's due home from his business trip tomorrow. We aren't quite sure how that's going to work so we're going to get Botan to bring us to see Koenma again after last bell.

It's the middle of fifth block right now. I think it might calculus, but I'm not really sure. I fell asleep before the teacher could give me anything to do.

"Ms. Tanira, please wake up and join the living."

I jerked up off my desk as someone prodded me in the back with a finger.

I spun around and snarled at whoever it was, and happened to find Yusuke. He had a devilish smirk on his face. "Che, you baka! That hurt!"

"Kisuko!"

I spun around and found myself nearly face to face with the teacher. Ms. Akuma was leaning on my desk, staring at me angrily.

"I will not tolerate sleeping in this class, or foul language. One more such incident and I will be forced to give you a detention."

I blinked, trying to grasp what was going on.

A voice whispered through my head. It sounded like Hiei. _You're being yelled at for sleeping, aho._

That first time he spoke in my head I made the mistake of answering out loud. "It's not my fault I'm tired!" We've gotten into arguments every time we've spoken since the first time we met Monday morning. It's done lovely things for our developing relationship.

Unfortunately Ms. Akuma thought I was talking to her. "Ms. Tanira! This is your last chance. I don't want to hear another word out of you, and I want this assignment by the end of class." She slapped the worksheet, plus an extra one that no one else had gotten, down on my desk as the rest of the room snickered. They all shut up as she marched back to the front of the room, though, giving them all a nasty look that said very clearly that they were next if they didn't quiet down.

The only thing I can say is that at least math is easy.

_Thanks a lot, yarou._

I felt more than heard the answered _hn_ in my head, along with a wave of smug satisfaction.

_I didn't know you could speak mind to mind._

_There's a lot you don't know about me, baka._

I looked at the papers I was supposed to be doing and resisted the urge to smash my head against the desk repeatedly. I was guessing that that was another thing that Ms. Akuma wouldn't approve of. They were simple. The papers would take me maybe five minutes to do, just like all the other stuff I had gotten from teachers this week. It amounted to nothing more than busy work, though I wasn't going to actually tell them that. That would probably result in them moving me up to more difficult classes where I _would_ actually have to do the work.

I started working on the papers and continued the odd conversation in my head, fairly certain that it wasn't just my imagination.

_I know my shield's are strong enough to at least sense you in my head now. Why can't I sense you?_

The wave of feeling in my head was still smug when it came through with the answer.

_Because I'm not breaching your walls. I'm just sending you information, and you have nothing up to block that._

Shit. I didn't know how to block it either.

_So you can't hear anything but what I think at you, right?_

_Hn._

_I take that as a yes._

_Yes. _The answer wasn't as smug this time, but I could feel my triumph rolling down the metaphysical cord that had somehow sprung up between us without me noticing.

_Can we shut it off?_ I thought at him, meaning the cord I had just sensed.

It felt like he paused, trying to get the gist of my message, before he replied.

_Yes. Temporarily and permanently._

I nodded and the feeling seemed to transmit down the cable as well.

_Can I shield from you?_

I didn't feel his answer right away, but when it came it was more in the tone that we talked with when face-to-face, slightly bitter, angry.

_Figure it out for yourself._ I snarled at him in my head, and that too slid down the cord.

I reached for my shields and tried to think how I might be able to use them in this situation.

I could feel him, just outside of them, and knew that he could feel what I was trying to do.

_Get away from me_ I hissed.

_Make me._

I stopped writing, and sitting in the classroom my eyes flashed angrily. I mentally gathered all of my energy and flung it at the cord, slamming my shields around that non-existent body part as I felt the connection splinter, but not break.

I smiled, alone in my head again, but I could feel him just outside my shield's. I could feel his thoughts bouncing off.

I tested another theory.

_Ha. Take that, Hiei. _I felt my words slip through, felt him receive him, and felt the power of his energy. If he wanted he could break through my shields. He was just giving me the illusion that I had bested him, just like with my other shields and keeping him from grabbing things from my mind.

I didn't really mind though. You never know when a skill will come in handy, and, if we can get along slightly better when speaking telepathically, then maybe we would be able to be allies if the need ever arose.

I'm not counting on it, but it always pays to keep your options open.

----------------------------------------

Akuma: devil

che: shit (unless I once again am wrong)

aho: stronger way of saying idiot

yarou: bastard (courtesy of Pen)

::hides from imminent explosions::


	14. Chapter Thirteen

**Asilin: **You should poke your partner with a rusty spork then. And there are many, many more fights coming up for Hiei and Kisu. ::evil laugh::

**Watermellon: **I've actually thought about that, but I haven't decided if I actually want to use the idea yet or not...

**Pen: **::sweatdrop:: At the time I wrote that last chapter I was under the illusion that putting periods insead of question marks would add flavor. So that wasn't me forgetting, that was me being a sleep-deprived idiot, and now that I read those sections over yet again, I question the effectiveness of me editing something at twelve o'clock. Kingdom Hearts! Mweep! I haven't played that forever!

**Lintered:**Telepathy is fun...

**Fire:** ...and rivers are special. Essential you might say.

--------------------------------------

**Chapter 13**

**Hiei…**

He felt her shields slam into place, and let them stay there, despite the fact that they were so weak.

She had caught on incredibly fast. He had anticipated having some more fun taunting her before being shoved out, even if only temporarily.

He was surprised to find himself feeling somewhat appreciative, proud, that she had figured it out so quickly without his help.

Why was he feeling like that? It didn't make sense.

Though it was true that the two of them had gotten along better in those few minutes of mind chat than they had in four days worth of face to face encounters.

He would leave her alone for now.

He leaned back against his tree branch, relaxing for the first time in a couple of days, and let the sun caress his face with warm fingers.


	15. Chapter Fourteen

**Chapter 14**

**Koenma…**

The team was sitting in front of him again.

Again…

What did he do to deserve this constant headache?

"What now? I sent the blood two days ago."

Kurama and Yusuke were strewn across two of the chairs, Yusuke even managing to look somewhat graceful. Kuwabara just looked like a sack of potatoes that had been dropped there.

Kisu and Hiei had taken up nearly mirror image poses against the walls on opposite sides of the room.

Hiei had a katana, and she had taken off her coat so that there was a set of daggers visible against her pale wrists.

He rubbed his temples. "Please don't tell me you wore those to school." She smirked and he came very close to blowing a socket at her again.

"No. I put them on outside the gates."

She turned her once again gray eyes to Kurama. "And you still owe me my good set."

Kurama nodded to her. "I'll drop them at Hiei's later."

She nodded too, satisfied by his answer.

Koenma found himself amazed at how much more relaxed the whole group was than they had been Monday afternoon, how quickly she had slipped into the group, become one of them, despite the fact that she was a criminal and was in custody under constant surveillance.

She even looked happier than she had those few days ago, though he doubted she would admit to anything like that if asked, and could be partly due to the fact that she had finally gotten to 'eat' after two days of forced fasting. He definitely knew that he always felt friendlier after feeding his hunger.

Yusuke was the one that finally brought up the subject that they had come here to discuss, as no one else had made a move to do so and Kisu, who it probably applied to the most, seemed perfectly content to lean against the wall and watch everyone else.

"Kisu said that her father is due home from his trip tomorrow."

Koenma looked at Kisu for validation. She nodded without being asked if this was right.

"And why does this cause a problem?"

Kurama answered. "We can't leave her at her house alone if her father isn't back by the time school is out."

Koenma's headache went full-blown. "That's a fairly simple problem. Couldn't you have figured it out on your own?"

Yusuke shrugged. "We tried. We couldn't agree on anything."

Koenma suddenly realized one of the reasons that, besides the stress level on him because of their stupidity, this meeting seemed so much more relaxed. There had been no bickering between Kisu and Hiei, or glaring matches, or any tension what so ever.

As if on cue Hiei said, "That's because you bakas are all too dense to see past your own noses."

Kisu was the only one that responded, bristling with her sudden anger. "I didn't hear you helping any, oni."

And of course he had thought that just a moment to soon.

The spoken remarks ceased but they continued to glare at each other intently, and he began to wonder if they had just taken the argument to a more silent venue by using Hiei's powers.

He reached into a desk and grabbed his mega-phone. He was going to end this quickly, and no one was paying attention to him again.

Yusuke and Kuwabara were staring at the two short apparitions waiting for something more to happen, and Kurama was just watching everything calmly.

"Stop it!" he yelled into the mega phone.

Everyone but Kisu, Hiei, and Kurama jumped. Ogre dropped the tea tray he had just brought in and then ran around crying for a minute because it had landed on his toe.

Why did this always happen to him? Why was he surrounded by idiots?

He put the mega phone down. "If Kisu's father is not there directly after school, leave a note saying that she's studying at…" Koenma paused trying to think of a female name.

Kurama said, "Botan." Koenma nodded his thanks.

"That she's studying at Botan's house and leave Hiei's number."

Kisu stuck out her tongue at Yusuke. "Ha, I told you that was a good idea."

Yusuke slumped deep into his chair moping.

"Well, she did, Urameshi," Kuwabara said, trying, unsuccessfully to cheer him up.

Kisu tilted her head to one side and looked a query at Koenma. "Hiei has a telephone?"

He scowled. "No, I do not."

Koenma slapped his hands against his forehead. "Why do I even bother!"

He snapped his fingers and a telephone appeared in a puff of smoke. He grabbed it and chucked it at Hiei.

Hiei glared at him but caught it. "Just plug it into the phone jack." Koenma looked at Kurama. "And you know the number?" Kurama nodded. Thank god. At least one thing was going right.

"I'll send Botan over tomorrow in case you do have to do that, so that she can answer the phone if Kisu's father calls."

Everyone stood there and stared at him.

His face started to grow red. He jumped up and jabbed a finger in the direction of the door. "Now get out of my office!"

----------------------------

oni: boy


	16. Chapter Fifteen

**Lintered:** I had some of them already randomly typed, others really well planned, and sometimes I just type really really fast... But everything usually requires major editing before I can even consider posting it...

**Ayaia: **Yay! Recomendations are good. Mary Sues! Ack! ::hides behind wooden cross:: They must burn! >. ::ties barbie doll to stake and lights with pretty match:: Yay! ::happy fire dance::

**Fire: **Yes. I don't know what we'd do without the rivers... though it would probably be withing the range of twenty years to life...

**Asilin: **Oh darn. Probations never any fun. They take away all the good stuff...

**Pen: **You're just realizing that there idiots? Parrots are cool! I'm thinking I must.

...I didn't update yesterday... And this chapter isn't very long, or exciting... No hurting please...

------------------------------

**Chapter 15**

**Kisu…**

Yusuke and Kuwabara had finally left. I slumped over backwards on the couch. I'd been helping them nearly non-stop since we got back from Koenma's earlier with all of the stupid make-up assignments they had for the past few days and they still seemed to have tons more of them to do.

Why did I agree to this? Why did I even suggest it?

I spotted the literature book where it lay half underneath the coffee table.

Right. So I didn't have to read that. At least that was working out.

I rolled off the couch and started up the stairs. I had been doing more physical exercises in the mornings than I had been, like pushups and stretches, but I still hadn't reviewed any of my weapon skills.

Hiei and Kurama were talking about something in the kitchen. If I pushed the couches out of the way, now seemed as good a time as any to start.

When I got back down stairs Hiei was already moving the couches out of the way. I dropped my knives and glaive by the stairs. "What are you doing?"

He glanced at me.

_Your shields are down_.

"Che!"

"If you help I'll leave you alone."

That seemed like a good enough deal. I grabbed the end of the couch he was pushing and we carried it over to the wall. We did the same with the other couch and the loveseat and then he grabbed the recliner while I grabbed the coffee table.

I stood up after setting the table down out of harms way.

Hiei went and stood leaned against the wall.

"I thought you said you were leaving?"

"Hn. I said I would leave you alone."

I glowered at him. "I'm only going to be going over weapon katas."

He sneered. "Then I'll watch."

I resisted the urge to launch myself at him and use him as my practice dummy and instead placated myself by making sure my shields were firmly back in place. I had been adding layers to them as time allowed, mostly during classes, so they were somewhat stronger than they had been.

I tried to ignore Hiei as I went through my warm up stretches and then an empty handed kata.

It almost worked. Almost, but not quite. I could still see him, and I could still sense him.

I love kata. I love the feel of my muscles as I slide from technique to technique, reveling in the absence of resistance as I make it into a dance, an exercise in grace.

I finished my first kata, and launched into the next form just because I could.

I lunged to the right with a left-handed reverse punch, eyes closed. As soon as it felt like I was stretched as far as my arm and body would allow without toppling over I pushed off with my right foot so that a spun on my left, knee bent and lashed out with a roundhouse kick. I re-chambered and went into a move that started like a cartwheel but turned into an aiki roll. I came up and swept a foot around behind me, turning so that I was facing the direction that I had just turned away from, and lunged forward with another punch, and then spun so that, if someone was there, I would have been doing a downward knife hand on the back of their neck.

A hand snacked across the front of my body and I found myself being levered and thrown over someone's shoulder. I twisted in the air automatically and landed directly next to the person's body. My eyes snapped open and I continued to drop my weight until I was crouching and could duck underneath their arm before lunging up and forward, then back just as suddenly, bringing their body straight to the ground with a crash.

The adrenaline began to fade and my senses return. I found myself crouching next to Hiei, his face watching mine as I held his arm, twisted to the ground in a severe hold, causing his back to bow just slightly.

I released him and stood up before snarling down at him.

"What was that for!"

He stood up, straightening his clothing and checking his katana. He grinned. "Checking your reflexes."

I scowled and crossed my arms. "Don't you know that you're not supposed to interrupt someone in the middle of a kata? It's considered extremely rude."

He shrugged, face empty as he walked over to the other side of the room again and began to undo his sword belt.

I watched him warily.

He turned around and walked back towards me until he was about four feet away, and then stopped.

I glared at him.

"Hn." He shifted into an open fighting stance, like one you use at the beginning of a kumite match.

He wanted to spar? Whatever. I shrugged.

"We don't have a referee. Why should I trust you not to kill me?"

He straightened again. "I get my probation revoked and thrown in prison if I kill without Koenma's permission." He scowled.

A smile flicked at the corners of my mouth before I could stop it. He seemed so down right sullen about not being able to kill. It was actually kind of cute.

I checked my shields, frantic for a second after thinking that, but was relieved to find them still in place. Thank god. That could have been embarrassing.

He was looking at me strangely. Hopefully he was just wondering why I had been freaking out. I don't think I'd done any of that the last couple days. I took a second and tried to remember.

Nope. I hadn't.

"Fine." I wasn't really that happy about sparring against him, considering I was probably going to get my butt kicked, but I suppose it could turn out to be fun. I shifted into my own fighting stance, and he returned to his. "But no serious injuries or maiming, and the fight is called by whoever is winning, meaning whoever has the other pinned for over five seconds.

He nodded and a light began to dance in his eyes. I guess he likes fighting. I can't really argue though, because I always feel the same way.

We caught each other's eyes, nodded once more, each raised our left arms into the air, and then dropped them at the same time with a combined, "Hajime!"

And let the fight begin.

----------------------------

Kata: traditional sequences of techniques. Funner that they sound.

Hajime: begin

Kumite: sparring match


	17. Chapter Sixteen

Okay everyone! Thank Asilin for this chapter being up so soon. ::glares:: It was suppossed to be tomorrow's chapter, and is one that I like.

But she better deliver and post her chapter, because otherwise this is entirely unfair and I will refuse to update tommorrow. However, the lure of reading another chapter of her story is too great to resist....

So here's this, a day early, from a sleep deprived darkness...

**Pen: **Okay, maybe it wasn't uninteresting, but my mind was already zooming ahead to this and I somehow managed to forget about all the yummy little Hiei tidbits I had worked in. It's a very hard thing to do, forget about him and whatnot, but somehow I managed... Grrrr....

**Asilin: **I'm sure Hiei could relate, considering his no killing clause with Koenma, and...::evil smirk:: you might say that Kisu understands as well...if you knew just what has happened in her past... ::evil laugh:: But you must wait!

::rereads what was just written:: Gomen... I think I might be in a bad mood at the moment... Nothing personal meant to any of you... Just darkness despising her science paper... ::stabs said paper with multiple daggers:: Ah. Much better.

------------------------------------------

**Chapter 16**

**Kisu…**

As soon as our arms dropped Hiei had disappeared. I should have known better. He's so much faster than me.

I was surprised to find that I could follow his energy signature fairly easily if I didn't try to look at him, though.  
I froze and stood paralyzed in the middle of the room, trying to follow his movements. He darted around the room, around me in a circle, and then lunged in with a punch. I managed to jump out of the way just in time to avoid it. Not good. Standing still was not working.

I started my own slower circle of the room, counter clockwise to his clockwise pattern, and we met with a crash. I hadn't seen him coming that time and only had time to get my arms up in a two armed block before he slammed into me.

"Ouff." I tried to sidestep him and catch his energy to throw him as he fell by me, but he was too fast and already off and moving again before I could even start the technique.

I felt a tapping on the outside of my shields before I heard his voice, meaning that it was still more courtesy than necessity that kept him from entering my head whenever he wanted.

_Relax, baka yarou. You won't be able to sense anything if you're thinking that hard. _

I jumped, surprised, and he had time to land a solid punch into my gut before I could spin away from him and resume the deadly dance.

Kuso, he was strong. The punch had knocked the wind out of me fairly badly, and was yet another reminder that I need to get myself back into shape if I have to be around the detectives.

I stopped moving for a second and closed my eyes. I could sense him moving around me, I just couldn't see him. I tried to push all thoughts of everything but the fight from my mind.

There. He was coming in with a throat jab.

I dropped lower, bending my knees when he was almost to me, and pushed up and out with a punch to his gut, putting everything I had behind it. His breath whooshed out in a quick gust and I turned into his body, grabbing the arm that had been meant to jab me, and moving to lever him over my shoulder.

He realized what I was doing this time though, because I've already tried to use throws on him in every single fight we've had since Monday.

Che. I need to change my strategy. Throws are just what I'm best at, what I'm the least rusty with. Again, I say shit. I'm screwed.

He braced himself, dropping his own weight lower as I tried to lever it over my shoulder, meaning he started to pull me over backwards as well.

We're the same height, and probably the same weight, but he's stronger because he's centuries older than me and has had that much longer to strengthen his muscles. I also doubt that he forgets to train for weeks on end like I have so often.

He did some fancy trick, twisting his arm just so, so that it slipped out of my grasp like butter and wrapped around my neck, cutting off my air. He straightened leaning backwards slightly, clamping the hold on my neck tight, trying to lever me off of the ground.

That's kind of hard to do when you're the same height as someone, but he managed.

I can't say that I didn't struggle though. I'm not one to give up. I ran my hands up and down the arm that was cutting off my air supply, trying to find a weak point, a pressure point, anything. I flailed with my legs, pointlessly, and around the time he started counting I came up with what my oxygen deprived brain thought was a good idea at the time. I kicked him in the kneecap.

I felt his leg give way, and it would have been a good idea if he hadn't landed on my back, meaning that I was still trapped under him. His hold on my neck loosened enough that I could twist under him, though, putting us face to face. I started to pull myself out from under him quickly, pulling myself backwards with my arms.

Unfortunately his eyes cleared about halfway through the maneuver, and the arm that had been around my neck clamped around my waist long enough for him to push off with his good leg. Damn, but he recovers fast. He tried to shove my shoulders down to the ground with one hand while trying to bring the knee that I had kicked up to my chest.

I didn't give him the chance. I used the momentum from him pushing me down to bring a foot up to his stomach and push while tensing my body and grabbing his shoulders myself with both hands, popping us up and over in a roll-type throw. This one is so rarely used by anyone, though, or at least effectively, and has to be done so spontaneously, that I don't think he realized what I was pulling this time.

We landed flat, both of us with an oomph, with me on top.

I would have had him if I hadn't lost my footing with the landing. As it was, my mistake gave him just enough time to roll us to the side again, putting him on the top, and pin both my wrists to the floor, kneeing me in the stomach like he'd tried to before to keep me from getting up.

It was definitely a solid pin this time, no hope of me escaping. I struggled anyway, though, just to be sure.

"Five, four, three, two…"

The door opened behind us and we heard a pair of amazed woahs that sounded remarkably like Yusuke and Kuwabara. Our heads snapped back in that direction, meaning I was straining to push my head into the floor to look at them upside down while Hiei just had to lift his head.

Yep. It was them.

They were standing there staring at us, mouths gaping.

Hiei was up off of me in a flash…

…and back on the ground a minute later when the knee I had kicked gave way. I dropped my mind shields as I scrambled to my feet a second after.

_Sorry about the knee._

_Hn._

Fine. He couldn't say that I didn't try to apologize now, though.

"What are you doing here," I growled at them.

Kuwabara's face was still awestruck, while Yusuke's was quickly recomposing himself. I contained my urge to whack the large red-haired boy.

_Don't bother. He deserves it._

I smirked, ignoring the fact that Hiei had just invaded my mind again this one time, and darted at Kuwabara before he could get out of the way and swung him into a wall.

I sneered as he pulled himself to his feet, brushing plaster dust off of his clothes, demanding an explanation. "What was that for!" he said indignantly.

I glowered at him. Yusuke took the chance to interrupt and answer my question. "We forgot our calc books here again, and I think you might have taken my lit book."

He was standing by Hiei, offering the smaller demon a hand up. Hiei snarled at him and slapped his hand away. "I can stand on my own, aho."

Yusuke stepped aside and let the injured fire apparition pull himself to his feet and limp over to the wall.

A mischievous glint appeared in Yusuke's brown eyes. Great. Just great. I didn't feel like putting up with one of his pointless and idiotic jokes.

"Looks like you play pretty rough, Kisu."

I glared at him, but didn't say anything. You never know what he'll do with your words. I've learned that much about him in just two days.

"You and Hiei were having some fun, ya?"

Kuwabara snickered. Hiei and me still didn't understand. We glanced at each other.

Kuwa waggled an eyebrow. "Hey. They aren't denying it Urameshi. You know what that means."

Yusuke started to snicker as well, unable to hold in his amusement at his own joke any longer.

I suddenly had an idea of what he might mean. "Hentai! That's not what was going on!"

I think Hiei suddenly realized what Yusuke meant as well because he snarled and probably would have lunged at the other boy if his knee hadn't started to give out again as soon as he took his hand off of the wall. "Take that back detective, or I'll make you eat it."

Yusuke paused and seemed to consider dashing for the door for a second, textbooks retrieved or no. I think he would have if Hiei had needed the wall just to stand right then.

Fine then. I would make him pay myself.

I lunged at him with a roar and slammed him back into the door. I only came up to the middle of his chest, but I glared up at him from that significant height difference. His eyes said that he didn't take me seriously. That made me even madder than his comment had.

I grabbed his throat and pinched my fingers together, forcing them into the indents on either side of his sarcophagus.

He immediately began to struggle and gasp for air, making small pain noises. I grinned at him, eyes cold.

Kuwabara slammed into my side. Damn. I hadn't been paying attention to him.

I think I may have attempted to tackle Kuwabara as well if Yusuke hadn't jumped between us at that point. There was a new respect for me in his eyes, a new wariness, one that hadn't even been there when they arrested me.

It made part of me happy, and a part of me sad. It always surprises me when I find that I might have actually been hoping to make friends in a new town or city. Whatever. I didn't need friends to survive, so why do I even waste time hoping for them. It's pointless.

Seeing that respect in his eyes calmed my nerves a little though, even he tried to smooth things over, voice rough.

"Okay! Okay! I'm sorry about the comment, guys. Didn't mean to offend you."

He motioned for Kuwabara to go find the books they had come to get.

"And the sparring we saw on the way in was good. It was just too good a crack to resist." He stepped closer to me and stuck a hand out warily, as though I might bite it. "Forgiven?"

I sneered at him condescendingly, but grabbed his hand and let him pull me to my feet. I did kind of feel bad about doing that throat hold on him. I know how painful it can be from personal experience. He nodded to me and I dropped his hand.

"Does Hiei need any help?" I glanced behind me at the demon that was trying to glare holes in the two humans.

"No. Hiei does not need your help."

_And Hiei will speak for himself,_ he growled in my head.

I turned around and snapped at him, not bothering with keeping it in our heads. This was getting beyond annoying. I was more than ready to just go and crash in bed. I had taken all the crap from people I was willing to for the day, especially when I hadn't exactly done anything to deserve the anger or the taunting this time. Even more so when I was attempting to be nice.

"Fine! Then Hiei can just go ahead and re-align his own knee cap!"

I turned and swept a sharp, obviously sarcastic bow to the humans, who were now standing there holding their books, Kuwabara openly astonished, Yusuke surprised by my sudden outburst about, as it appeared to them, nothing.

I flashed my special cold smile at them. "I will see all of you in the morning." I swept over to where I had deposited my weapons at the beginning of this mess. "I have had more than enough to do with you shoujos for the day.

With that I swept up the stairs, the weapons bundled in my arms, and slammed the bedroom door behind me. It wasn't my room. The room I would be staying in tomorrow would not be my room. I didn't have a place that was really mine, but at least in here I would be alone for a couple of hours.

I grabbed a blood bottle out of the crate Koenma had delivered the other day and jumped onto the bed, grabbing the worn book from the bedside table.

I don't belong anywhere that I've been yet, and I don't really care. It doesn't matter to me if I ever find the place that everyone says everyone else is supposed to have, even if the individual saying it has yet to find _their_ said place. I'm just sick of putting up with endless bull crap and stupidity from people I am forced to interact with between now and death. I know that this is the millionth time that I have reiterated myself on this subject, but that is what I believe, and this is what I am sick of.

I heard the door slam downstairs, presumably behind those two baka ningens. Did I care that I had left Hiei to find a way up the stairs when he couldn't walk? No, because it was his fault I had hurt him in the first place.

I felt him try to slip into my mind, but I pulled the shields that I had tossed down up again. They still weren't strong enough to keep him out if he wanted in, but he stayed out.

Thank god. That was one thing that went right today.

I snuggled down into the blankets and opened my copy of _The Lovely Bones_ yet again and sipped my blood as I listened to Hiei curse and mutter painfully dragged himself up to his room, all because his ego is just a wee bit to big for his brain.

--------------------------------------------------------

aho: harsher than baka

shoujos: girls

hentai: pervert

Asilin....I'm watching you! ::perches on back of Asilin's chair:: Posty! >. I'll even try to be happier and say please?

::run's off before does serious harm to anyone or anything::


	18. Chapter Seventeen

Hmm........ Yes.... Um.... Just ignore my evil ranting from last night please.... I'm not actually capable of being that cruel.... since it pisses me off when other people do things like that...

Besides, this is the only chance I have to update today....

**blackflamelion:** Thanks. But I think the majority of people would agree that there are too _many_ Hiei love stories, and that the majority of them are brain-cell killing works of Mary-Sue-ness.

**Pen:** Um... No. It is not fun. And I speak from experience. It burns like the seven fires of hell and refuses to let you walk or do anyother similiar type activities when they would be very important.... Such as at last year's winter concert....

**Fire: **.....she's had to deal with the entire gang for multiple days.... Would you not be feeling twitty at this point as well? Despite the obvious euphoria you would be feeling at being in close contact with them? And what the hell was she supposed to do? He was strangling her! And it's not like he didn't start it to begin with...

-------------------------

**Chapter 17**

**Hiei…**

He dragged himself up the stairs, hand squeezing his calf, other leaned heavily against the wall. He struggled to get up the stairs without falling.

Curse her, and he did just that. Instead of make pain noises he let out a steady stream of swears directed at her.

He couldn't figure out what had pissed her off either. He was the one that had gotten hurt.

He smiled a little as he reached his door though, eyes flashing. He had won the round, hands down. If the bakas hadn't shown up and ruined everything he might have even shown her some of the things she had done wrong.

He snorted at himself. Right. He rarely felt like willingly challenging someone, and even less felt inclined to show him or her how to become a better fighter.

The only reason he had started the sparring match was because he found himself curious about her fighting style after watching her move through those katas. She had been so graceful, so…absorbed in them.

He had felt the way she fought briefly during their numerous tussles and fights, but those times he had been angry. He had been determined to do as much damage to her as possible before the others pulled them apart yet again.

At least, this was what he tried to tell himself, convince himself of, as he hobbled into his room and into the adjoined bathroom.

His room had one of the only windows in the entire apartment. It was the reason he had chosen this room. If he was going to be forced to stay inside, as he had been since they had arrested Kisu, then he at least wanted one window out into the world, one alternate escape or exit route. He hated feeling trapped, be it inside or out.

He supposed he might be mildly claustrophobic, or he could just have a natural aversion to walls and lust for the open aired freedom of mountains and forests.

His room was painted a dark charcoal gray. He had been immensely relieved, the first time he had come to the apartment, to find that Koenma had had the entire place decorated in grays, dark blues, natural wood paneling and other dark tones. He would have considered beating the infant to a pulp, probation or no, if the baby had tried to saddle him with a brightly painted or perky living abode.

The comforters on his bed were matte black, made of cotton or some such material, with a mound of matching pillows. The only other furniture in the room was a table in the corner, a dresser against the wall by the bathroom wall, and a black sofa chair in the last remaining empty corner.

Luckily the bathroom was decorated in dark blues as well, except for the pure white tub and sink, leaving him with barely any glaring white to put up with.

He grabbed the first aid box that he always left out on the counter, and dragged himself back to the bed, where he plopped himself down onto the edge and swung his leg up next to him with a wince.

The pain was already settling into a dull throbbing red.

He yanked the hem of his paints up and winced at the sight of the blue-black bruise already blossoming over the entire inside of the knee.

That was the last time he tried to strangle her, though he doubted he would be sparring with her again. Why should he put himself in the way of her attitude?

He found himself reluctantly admitting to himself that he admired her spunk though, and grudgingly admitting that he had been exactly like her a couple hundred years ago. Cocky, arrogant, and quick to anger. Then again, he might still be like that. At least he was aware of it, though. Though whether or not she was was questionable as well, considering how well she seemed to manipulate her emotions some of the time.

He sneered. He would bet money that he was better at it, though. Practice makes perfect, or at least better.

He hissed as he probed the bruise with his fingers, trying to find whether it was just that, a very nasty bruise, or if she had actually managed to crack, fracture, or tear something.

He felt his blood rising at the thought that she had almost beaten him. She wasn't even a full demon. He might not be pureblooded, but at least he was full youkai, not just a ningen hanyou.

Everything felt fine. He pushed at his kneecap, ignoring the pain, again trying to decide if it was going to stay on its own or if he would have to bandage it.

He flipped the lid of the box open and pulled out a jar of tiger balm. It would help with the bruising and maybe ease the pain a bit, hopefully keeping the swelling down. Then he would bandage it, just to be on the safe side. He was more worried about how long it would take to heal than the actual pain or injury. He was fairly sure it would be fine by morning, or mid-afternoon at the latest. The odd combination of ice koorime blood and fire kajihenge had given him the unexpected ability of healing even faster than other demons, who already healed faster than humans, and being able to speed his healing even further with a push from his own youki.

He wrapped an ace bandage around the knee tightly and firmly after finishing with the balm, making sure to apply pressure to the outside of it to keep the knee cap from slipping itself again as soon as he tried to stand on it.

He fastened the ends down with a pair of metal clips and then swung his leg back to the floor, accidentally letting it hit the ground with a bump that sent a jolt of pain up to his head, causing him to bit his lip with the sudden pain.

But his knee held as he paced the room, testing it carefully.

It wasn't a serious injury. It didn't even really deserve that much of his attention in the end, but it was an injury that someone he didn't consider his equal in combat skills had given him.

She might not have meant to kick his knee out, but then again, she might have. You can never tell what someone is thinking as you try to strangle them. Sometimes their thoughts stay coherent until they pass out, and sometimes they don't. He didn't particularly care what had been happening in Kisu's head. He had won, finally, after two faulty holds, but it had taken longer to best her than it had sometimes taken him to beat people twice what he estimated her level to be.

If he had managed to land at least one equally debilitating technique on her before they had been interrupted he probably wouldn't have been as angry about her lucky shot.

He hobbled over to the windowsill and settled himself on it, staring out at the view of the city with all it's lights flashing, twinkling, and winking. He leaned back toward the bed far enough that he almost fell off of it and dragged the comforter over to him. He found the window far more comfortable than the bed.

The fact that he hadn't landed anything serious made him angry. He could probably have beaten her to a pulp if he had actually been putting effort into trying to win.

Now he felt the need for revenge, a need to settle the score. Maybe he would let her train for a while and then challenge her again, but put himself in it at one hundred percent.

He smiled.

He liked that idea.

He would let her think that she had escaped from their tussle with nothing but a few bruises and wounded pride until he was ready to get his retribution.

And then the victory would be his, completely.

He closed his eyes against the sight of the bright city and let himself slip into a dream of bloody battle and swordplay.

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Chapter end.... Next installment arriving soon....


	19. Chapter Eighteen

**Fire: **::mildly ashamed:: I'm somewhat sorry? I won't deny that I was a _little_ defensive, but I'm not fed up. ...the river was getting alot of use yesterday... but it's almost vacation! And it's the weekend! wee! I'm in a better mood on weekends. Sleeping in really late does wonders for my attitude.

**Pen: **Heheh. ::evil smirk:: Yes. _That_ is fun.

**Youkokurama321: **Merci beaucoup pour ton review!

**Asilin:**Squee! ::flying tackle glomp:: Yay! Yay! Yay! ::runs around like a maniac:: Um....I might be a wee bit addicted to yours as well....

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**Chapter 18**

**Kisu…**

We had passed the first hurdle of my imprisonment with out hitch.

It might have been easier because my father actually arrived home on time for once.

He was home for a grand total of two days, eating up my first weekend of school free time, before taking off on another business trip. I think he goes on the trips more for the 'company' of his 'associates' than anything else.

Spending time with him has always been rather painless. I read a book and lounge on a chair while he watches sports, or barricade myself in my room while he does mountains of paperwork.

The most difficult part of our time together has been, traditionally, the meals. I was actually surprised by how fast the spirit detectives caught on and accepted the fact that I really can't eat more than a bite or two of something without paying for it later.

Even more unfortunate than the need to eat to appear the normal teen I'm supposed to be, is that my father has a certain pension for huge pasta, or rice, or any kind of noodle, dinners.

Talk about heavy.

It takes me three bottles of blood and half a bottle of Tums later in the evening to keep meals like that down.

Saturday morning caused the most confusion, though.

He said that he had to go in to his office for an hour or two to meet with a client that was thinking about signing her business over to his company from another firm. Since I've made it very clear that I have no interest in his company, and no enthusiasm in trying to be convinced otherwise, I couldn't just suddenly demand to come with him.

After struggling with the idea for about five minutes, I finally said screw it and yelled to him that I was going to a friend's house to study and would be back by five as I ran out the door grabbing my coat on the way. I say that I struggled with the idea because I had run out of blood again, having started keeping most of the weekly supply at Hiei's apartment, and my brain hadn't managed to work past the sleep fuzz again and start functioning properly, despite the fact that it was nearly eleven.

I had jogged all the way to Hiei's, and upon arriving there, found Yusuke and Kuwabara rushing up, winded and out of breath, soon joined by Kurama and Hiei from the other direction.

Hiei had lunged at me and pinned me against the wall before anyone could say anything. I had glared at him as I found myself yet again unable to breath because of his hand on my throat and had lashed out at his knee with a foot.

He had dropped me with a snarl, stepping back out of the way. He moved away so quickly that I suddenly found myself sitting on my butt on the pavement because of the sudden lack of force.

His knee appeared to have healed quickly, because he was walking around with only the slightest limp.

I sneered at him.

He glowered at me, eyes fierce, angry.

Again, it was Kurama who interrupted our fight, but his voice was slightly hotter than I'd heard it since I had met him. "We just spent the last hour looking for you. Koenma said that you had disappeared from your house."

I scowled at him from the ground. "There's not even a reason for me to try to get away. And doesn't Koenma have surveillance around the entire perimeter of the city for _him_?" I said the last as I jabbed a finger in Hiei's direction.

All four of them glared at me me. I snarled at them. I probably wasn't at my best, yet again, because a smart person will not test the limits of the patience of those who are in charge of your liberties and freedom.

Bad Kisu. Bad.

I actually shook my head, trying to force some sense back into it.

I must have looked as crappy as I felt because Yusuke suddenly asked, "What's wrong with you?"

I shook my head again and tried to force my swimming vision to focus on him. The two Yusuke's finally overlapped and solidified into a single image. I think I actually said the happy "Yes!" out loud because they all suddenly looked at me a little harder.

I tilted my head to the side as though that would help me remember what why I was having a bad day this time.

"I ran out of blood…"

Kuwabara managed to arrange his face into a skeptical expression. "But you took half a crate with you on Friday. I thought you said that was more that enough to last you a week?"

Ya. Why wasn't it?

"Oh! Because I ate too much solid stuff!"

They managed to look even more incredulous, probably because I had just blurted out the answer to a question that I had just asked myself mentally. Kurama's hand darted out and grabbed the back of my neck as he laid his other hand against my forehead. I growled and tried to bite his hand.

Fresh blood. And it was so close to me. So close to my mouth, my teeth, just beneath the surface of that lily-white skin of his.

"Does your body react badly to solid food, Kisu?"

I nodded, eyes never leaving that wrist that was just out of reach. "Duh."

His hand moved away from the front of my face and he dragged me back up to my feet by the back of my neck.

"Check her mind, Hiei."

He scowled at the blunt command, but I felt his presence digging through my shields a moment later

I started flailing, and Kurama lifted me higher so that my feet weren't touching the ground.

"Hey! That's my brain! Get out!"

I kicked out with legs and arms, trying to hit everything and anything, but there was nothing to hit.

"Her thought's are muddled."

I stopped kicking and glared at the apparition as I felt him withdraw from my mind, leaving my shields intact behind him. "Stupid fluff-head."

He twitched his nose at me. I tried to reach out to grab him, or scratch him, or strangle him, or something, but Kurama shook me like I was a misbehaving dog. I froze, arm extended toward Hiei, but turned my head to glower at the fox.

Another pair of arms grabbed mine and twisted them up behind me back. I couldn't move my arms anymore, but I kicked my feet and turned my head to snap at Yusuke's quickly retreating face as I felt Hiei's mind touch mine again.

"She's out of blood, and she thinks the food is messing with her immune system. She left because her dad had a business meeting."

"And according to you people I'm not allowed a single second by myself!"

Yusuke whacked me outside the head. "Shut up already, Kisu. You're not making any sense."

I growled at him and Kurama sighed. "You two go explain what happened to Koenma. Hiei and I will take care of…" He paused and looked at me, slightly disgusted. I don't blame him. I was acting like an idiot. "…this."

Yusuke nodded and took off down the street again, followed by a complaining Kuwabara.

Kurama just carried me into the apartment and dropped me on the floor unceremoniously. Hiei followed and shut the door.

The two of them stood on either side of me, staring down at me as I crouched on the ground. I knew I needed to regain control of myself. I was spinning out of control. It seemed to be happening more and more lately. Is there a reason for that?  
This is why I'm staying on the floor trying to stop my spinning head and nail my temper back into place. It seemed to be working, until I took what was supposed to be a deep soothing breath, and might have been, if I hadn't inadvertently caught a whiff of something burning in the kitchen.

My stomach churned all over again and I felt my face go instantly green.

I started to stumble to my feet again, but started to fall over even before Hiei made a move to push me back to the ground. Thankfully Kurama caught my elbow and hauled me upright. Again. I stood, half bent over and started stumbling drunkenly in a random direction. Once again my eyes were not working and I could not see straight. As a matter of fact my brain didn't seem to be working, since I didn't even have a clue where the bathroom was.

"Bathroom…gonna puke…"

I tripped and nearly fell over but somehow managed to catch myself against the wall. I hadn't realized I was that close to it.

I felt Hiei's words whisper across the back of my brain as he spoke to Kurama and realized that my shields must have dropped again as the brush of power threw my head into brain blender mode and set me swaying where I stood.

"Quick, help her Hiei!" That was Kurama. He rushed into the kitchen, having suddenly remembered that he had been cooking a tuna casserole earlier, as I found myself suddenly lifted up and clutched to a chest by black clad arms and flashed across the room at Hiei's top speed in the opposite direction I had been heading. The surprise of being jerked off of the ground startled me into making the mistake of breathing through my nose again.

He dropped me on the ground and I grabbed the edge of the toilet bowl, pulling my head over it just in time to empty my gut of three days worth of undigested food. I kept heaving and heaving until I finally ran out of stuff to upchuck. It felt like my thoughts had started to untangle themselves as soon as my body had disposed of the toxins, despite the fact that my head now felt like it was going to explode from the pounding pressure of the post puke fest headache and the raw feeling in my throat.

I sat on the ground with my head slumped on the seat, using it as a prop just to remain upright, eyes clamped shut against the light that had somehow gotten turned on.

It flipped off and I opened my eyes to find an opened bottle being held three inches in front of my face.

I grabbed it and gulped from it, gasping a minute later from the painful starbursts the quick and sudden movements on my part had caused. Hiei caught the bottle before it slipped from my limp fingers.

I tried to think of something that would help this. "Aspirin," I croaked.

He didn't even complain about the order, or give me any attitude, thank god. He just rummaged around in the medicine cabinet for it, causing little lightening bolts of pain to zing through my cranium with every clunk and bump, and finally pressed two pills into one of my hands and the bottle into the other.

God, when had I closed my eyes again?

I forced them open as he took the bottle and pills back again, realizing that I wasn't quite functional enough at the moment to manage that level of coordination. Joy.

_Open your mouth._ The words were just the faintest whisper of power against the furthest perimeter of my limited mental awareness, but it still caused me to gasp again in slight pain and dizziness. Hey, I opened my mouth though.

Unfortunately this meant that Hiei forced the two pills into my mouth and half way down my throat and had the blood bottle up to my lips and tilted, filling my mouth, before I could gag and spit them out. It was either swallow or choke.

I managed to swallow most of it, and then more, and another mouth full, until he finally let the bottle drop down again, nearly empty. I was finally able to gasp in a lungful of fresh air, which was thankfully food smell free because Hiei had closed the door at some point, and felt much better for the trauma.

My eyes were watering, I probably had blood all over my clothing, and my head was still pounding, just not to the extent that it had been before. My vision was almost as sharp as it usually was, and my other senses were functioning at almost half-mast with minimal pain levels.

I opened my mouth to thank Hiei, trying to lean forward, and suddenly realized that somewhere during him stuffing the aspirin down my throat and choking me with blood he had shifted so that I was leaning with my back against his chest, his arm wrapped firmly around my waist, holding me tight against him.

"Um…" I was suddenly blushing and sincerely hoping that Hiei couldn't see as well in the dark as me, and that my shields were in place, which I highly doubted, so more accurately I was hoping that he was staying the hell out of my head and in his own.

"Um…"

"I think the words you're looking for are thank you."

I said the only thing I could think off.

"Hn."

I could feel the twitch of his muscles as he suppressed a smile. Was he smiling? Or had he managed to squash the impulse? I froze. Did I want to know? Maybe he caught a portion of my thoughts, or the tension in my body, or my reaction to his proximity, but something triggered a small wave of chuckles escape his lips.

"Why do you put yourself through that?"

I had never heard him laugh before, so I just leaned against him, dazed, and listened as the movements this new emotion caused rippled through his muscles and into my back.

"What?"

He motioned towards the toilet bowl, still laughing. "That."

"Oh." I shrugged. "I don't know, what else can I do?" The shrug made me suddenly and painfully aware of how close to him I really was. I caught I whiff of his scent and let my head drop back onto his shoulder, forgetting the fact that I was sitting in his lap for a moment while I reveled in his scent. He smelled like danger, and something spicy. It was a warm, wild smell, edged with curiosity. The smell held past sorrow, strife, and loneliness. He smelled like herbs, and the deepest, darkest part of a forest, where no one ever went.

It was so warm, his laugh and his smell, despite the overlaying shadows, and the fact that they weren't anything I would expect from him. I saw him as arrogant, and uncaring. Could there be more to him? Could we have more in common than a tendency towards violence and sarcasm? Was he once softer than he is now?

I suddenly realized that I almost had my nose pressed into the hollow of his neck, his laughter rippling through my face, almost making me moan. Not good. Very bad.

Right?

I tried to pull away from him. I don't know why. I just did.

"You can let me up now, you know." My voice sounded slightly more agitated that I wanted it to.

He stopped laughing, but I could still hear it in his voice when he spoke. It was like watching a shiny bead swing back and forth in front of my face, except I was hearing it, and I found it mesmerizing.

"Kisu, can you even stand?"

Something in me squeezed when he said my name. Che. I needed away from him.

Now.

But that meant I had to think about it. Could I stand?

I tried to sit up on my own. Hiei removed his arm from around my waist. I stayed where I was. "Shimatta. No."

I caught a glimpse of the small smile curling his lips as he stood up and threw me over his shoulder with a muffled "oomph" from me, mostly because I hadn't been expecting that sudden transition.

"Kuso, not even noon and I have a hangover," I muttered.

He chuckled again, and I experienced the odd sensation of vibrations in the lower half of my body as my head filled with blood, hitting against the middle of his back.

My head swam again as he opened the bathroom door and strolled out into the living room, which was now also thankfully free of food smells.

Or maybe I just wasn't as attuned to them now that I had puked it all out?

Probably not, if the feeling of seasickness I experienced as he dropped me onto the couch from a height of three feet was any indication. I had to clutch at the sides of the couch as I bounced up and down not to fall off it, because I couldn't figure out which way was up, down, left, or right.

I swear he was enjoying watching me suffer.

He looked down at me, smug. "I'll get you more blood." I glowered at him, crossing my arms over my chest as soon as the world steadied and it didn't feel like I was going to slide off the couch sideways if I released my death grip on the leather.

The smile stayed in place the entire time he climbed the stairs up to my room as he went to get it, and it was a very strange thing to see from the serious and scornful person I had equated him with being.

Unfortunately, things like this happened a couple more times while my dad was in town, not that time, but the time after that, and after that. They told me I was being an idiot, eating all that food, especially when I knew what it would do to me, and then showing up damn near stoned at Hiei's when I spazed and couldn't functionally think when I was required to make a decision that could easily have been fixed by a phone call, or skipping a meal or two.

Yusuke and Kuwabara hadn't been able to convince Koenma to ease up on my sentence at all either.

Wow, it would be such a major change. I can do so much illegal stuff without someone around to watch me all the time. Right. I'm finding that Koenma can be a little dense, and more than a little stubborn sometimes, as can Yusuke, who has a head like a pig when it comes to making compromises. Kuwabara can be as well, and, alternatively, in certain situations, Hiei or Kurama, though them not so much as the others.

Kurama was finally able to convince Koenma to agree to let me travel between Hiei's and my house without a watch dog the fourth time this happened. Joy. I was so happy. Let's celebrate by smashing our heads against a brick wall.

Two months passed like this, though there thankfully was not a repeat of this particular experience and the random feelings I surprised myself by feeling, ignoring the fact that I don't even know what the feelings were or meant, putting us all up into middle-to-late November. I started spending more time at the apartment, even when my dad was around, be it in the middle of the week or the weekend, using it as a sort of sanctuary to avoid some of those dreaded meals. If my dad is in town I spend the night at his place, and if he isn't I stay at Hiei's, in the room that's becoming more like mine than my actual one is. Most of my stuff had migrated over to that room, along with my favorite clothes.

And regardless of where I spend the night I usually end up spending a couple hours there anyway, either doing homework, helping Yusuke or Kuwabara with theirs, or, if they aren't there, or even if they are, training in the back half of the room. It's a big enough room that, with a little rearranging, there's always some extra room to train in, though I have definitely avoided sparring with Hiei or anyone else since that first time.

After October Keiko and her friends started coming by and joining the 'study group.'

The others laugh and joke around a lot more when there are more people, but I just try to stay out of it. I try to avoid hanging out with them just to be hanging out, trying to keep things in perspective. They were the good guys, and I had been labeled bad. I don't want to be any closer to them than I have to be.

With three extra minds, plus Kurama whenever he's around or not doing some other random thing, we all seem to get our work done twice as fast, meaning that we all got sucked into trying to help Yusuke and Kuwabara do and learn what seemed to be over a years worth of material.

But we've started moving through it all a lot faster with more of us there.

Once the school realized that I was doing better than just good, but wonderful, in all of my classes, they tried to stick me in a foreign language.

Since neither Yusuke or Kuwabara would have been in any of those classes I didn't bother trying to play dumb enough to get into any of them. I managed to test out of English, Spanish, French, German, and Japanese, which was actually the first one they tried to make me take, trying to make sure I could understand what was going on, before they gave up on me and stuck me in an art class. Boring, yes. But it doesn't require any extra work really.

When Kuwabara asked how I had learned so many languages I had explained to him, managing not to be exceedingly nasty about it, that that's what happens when you have a dad that's constantly moving to foreign countries, and has been since you were eight, and most likely has been for even longer than that anyway.

It isn't the best place in the world to be, but it's a fairly comfortable for me. Compared to what it could be it's definitely way within my comfort zones. The question is why can't things ever just stay like they are? Why don't people know when to leave well enough alone?

----------------------------

shimatta: damn it

Seven days 'till Christmas!


	20. Chapter Nineteen

Hey guys. It's time for an apology. Sorry about the lack of updates the last couple of days! There's not really a reason, just excessive amounts of pre-vacation homework. One day left though! woot! I'm excited.

**Fate: **Don't worry about it. I hope things come back together for you. If you ever need someone to randomly yack to I have aim and I think my email _might_ be on my profile page. ::not entirely sure of that fact:: ;; I'm surprising good at listening most of the time and can even come through with some valid advice every now and then. Hang in there!

**Pen: **Um... ::hides:: Nothing bad yet. Climax is coming up soon ::_maybe. again not sure_:: And, if you remember, she doesn't consider them friends yet. She would have to care about them to care about what happens to them. ::wink, wink:: (Kisu: ...spoiler...)

**Fire: **::laughing:: Rude-ness is our savoir. It makes life interesting. Personally though, I prefer sly insults that take the stupid people a few minutes to figure out ::evil grin:: I like my sarcasm.

**Asilin:** Sunshine is energy? ::confused:: Sleepover mayhem! Yay! Why the hell are they called sleepovers? No one sleeps...

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**Chapter 19**

**Kisu…**

November. It got chilly so fast. Even though I've been trying _very_ hard to avoid detentions, I've started wearing a thicker coat to school, and just taking it off and putting it in my bag before I get there.

I'm not a fan of winter, or fall, despite the fact that I find them the prettiest of the four seasons. So much color, and then so much white perfection. I just despise cold. I get cold too fast, especially if I haven't had enough blood, and it takes me forever to warm myself back up again.

I've already started wearing the winter version of the school uniform, despite the fact that no one else has, and probably won't until the first snow fall has come and gone.

Joy.

I was walking home from the school, Kurama having finally convinced Koenma to let me walk alone if I was going there and my father was already home.

Aren't I lucky? My father is there today, and today is Friday, so the excuse of homework isn't even as relevant as it usually is for escaping up to my room. I've finally managed to get everything completely unpacked, which has taken much longer than usual because I've been spending more time at Hiei's than at my actual house.

My room at his apartment is beginning to look more like mine than my actual one does. I have all my favorite clothes there, the majority of my blood supply, and most of the other possessions that I have any attachment to, including all of my weapons there instead of here.

"Kisu!" I looked over my shoulder at the sound of my name, pausing only slightly so that I didn't walk into anything as I looked.

Keiko. Wonderful. I returned my full attention to walking and avoiding potholes and street signs and whatnot.

"Kisu! Wait up!" She was closer, and I could hear her running, yet I still ignored her and kept walking.

She caught up with me at the very end of the street, just around the corner from my house, getting in front of me and blocking my path before bending over, panting and growling up at me angrily. I just watched her, nonplused.

"You're one annoying demon," she gasped out. We've gotten along slightly better than that first time I met her at lunch, but not by much. Maybe I made her run to catch up with me for longer than I had been paying attention?"

"How long have you been following me…"

She glared at me. "Since you left the school."

My expression didn't change.

"A bunch of us are going to Hiei's for movies tonight. We'd go to Yusuke's but the house is a mess, and I wouldn't trust it not to be even if he said it wasn't."

I tried to step around her and continue down the street.

"Kisu! Stop it. You might as well come, since you usually spend so much time at Hiei's anyway, and it'll give you an excuse to skip out on dinner with your dad."

Now, that did have its appeal, though I couldn't care less about the movies.

"Who's going?"

She flashed a smile, obviously thinking she had snared me. Right. "Me, Yusuke, Kuwa, Kurama, Hiei obviously. Krystal would have come, but she has a date with that Tom guy, and Hannah said she wouldn't come unless Krystal did. Kuwa's sister Shizuru, and Botan, they might show up too.

"No."

"What?"

"I'm not coming."

Her eye twitched. "Why?"  
I looked at her emotionlessly as I finally got around her and continued down the street. "I don't want to, and my dad's home."

"Your dad hasn't said anything about you cutting out on him to hang out with us before this."

Che. She was right. How was I going to pull this off?

"That's always been during the day, for homework. It's my turn to cook tonight." There. That's how.

She looked at me, skeptical. "I don't believe you."

I tried to give her an innocent, who me? type face, but I don't think she bought it. She probably didn't, because I'm not all that innocent.

We'd walked the rest of the way to my house. I stopped at the walkway and said goodbye, forcefully.

"Bye. I'll see you in school."

I turned away, but caught a glimpse of the determined look on her face.

If I were lucky this would be the end of this particular conversation, and them trying to willingly involve me with their group. I've never had much luck, though, so I rather doubt that this time around will be any different.

Four hours later, around seven clock, my fears were proven when the doorbell rang to ruin my, until that point, blissfully detective free evening.

My father opened the front door as I came down the stairs barefoot, still wearing my uniform, having not bothered to take it off after school, with my sleeves rolled up and tie hanging from my neck, undone and messy. My hair was in the tight, black curls, again, because that's what my father is used to seeing when he comes home.

I froze and groaned when I saw not only Keiko, who I had been half expecting to show up at some point and try to drag me away, but Shizuru _and _Botan as well.

"Hello Mr. Tanira," Keiko spurted. "We're friends of Kisu."

Her voice stopped as I heard my father's low mumble, and then Botan's chirp.

"I'm Botan, this is Keiko, and this is Shizuru. We, ah…we met Kisu at school."

God, but those three are bad at lying. I've seen Keiko angry at Yusuke once over the past few months, because he had failed a test that we had helped him study for, for four hours. The girl can definitely hold her own when it comes to anger, but I haven't seen any of those three, except for Shizuru, who I've only met a couple times, lie convincingly.

Shizuru's low, melodic voice pitched in now, and I could just see her tilting her head, letting her long brown hair sweep across her shoulders, as she reached for the pack of cigarettes that was in her back pocket, though I doubted she would actually pull one out if they were trying to get me out of here.

"We were planning on having a get together tonight, before Kisu found out you were going to be home, with just us girls. Movies, popcorn, gossip, you know? And we were wondering if we could steal her anyways, since this is the first time we've even come close to convincing her to come."

I heard my dad laugh and then mumble something back goodheartedly. The three girls giggled.

Kuso, I didn't want them hanging out around my father! Not only will he probably hit on them if I leave him alone with them, but he'll probably say I can go and explain that I haven't had that many friends and that he's always happy to see me getting out and having fun. Che! Not good!

I vaulted over the stair railing, skipping the last half of the steps, and rushed into the foyer, pasting a grin on my face as I did so, shooting a look at the girls as my father turned around surprised.

I jumped in before he could say anything. "Hi guys!" I jumped forward and gave each of them half-hugs, desperate to get them gone, preferable without me. I _did not_, did not! Want to spend more time with all of those people if I wasn't required to! "I know we were going to do stuff tonight, but I already told you, my dad's home and I want to spend the night with him. We can do something next week, right?" I threw in a hair swing, just for good measure, hoping that this little act would make everyone happy and leave me alone.

It definitely backfired.

"Hon." My smile faltered for a second, but I managed not to flinch or growl at the nickname, or the hand he had placed on my shoulder. Affectionate person I am not, and I think that this is a very big accomplishment for me. If it had been anyone but my father I can guarantee that they would have been on the ground clutching themselves within moments of the unwanted contact, something that Kuwabara learned the hard way.

The girls were staring, dumbfounded by my act.

"If you already had plans I won't object to you going." He smiled, and I knew that I had lost this battle.

"I can find something to do. Go enjoy yourself." And he would go 'visiting', or something equally embarrassing.

I managed to keep the anger out of my voice, my smile still welcoming, though my eyes might have gotten a little hard. "Thanks Dad, you're awesome." I gave him an awkward half-hug. We don't do a lot of stuff like that. "I'm going to go change before we leave though. Okay?" The girl's smiles were triumphant as I turned away, allowing myself to scowl as soon as they could no longer see my face.

"We'll come up with you. We haven't seen your room since you finished unpacking." I tensed, pasting the smile back into place as I turned back around at Shizuru's words. How did a dork like Kuwabara end up with such a suave sister? It doesn't seem possible. Her expression was amused.

"Sure, why not?" I squeezed out, unwilling to let my father know just how abnormally I usually react to normal things. This time I made it all the way to the top of the stairs, with them following, before someone tried to talk to me again as I slammed the door of my room behind us.

Keiko smiled, knowing she had just won, and would probably pay for it in someway later on that night. "I told you I'd get you to come."

I scowled and stormed over to my closet, ruffling through it, trying to find something that suited my mood. Damn again, because all the stuff I like has managed to migrate to Hiei's.

I turned around, meaning to storm over to my little dresser, to catch Shizuru sneaking a look over my shoulder. She smiled at me, a small upturning of the lips, amused again. "Not many clothes in there. You're even stranger than I thought you were."

I scowled up at her, which meant I was looking up a good two feet, being only as tall as Hiei, and Shizuru being nearly as tall as her brother Kuwabara.

"I think most of her stuff is at Hiei's," Keiko said, reaching out to pick up a decorative dagger I'd picked up at a Renaissance fair I had gotten dragged to one time. I growled at her hand moved away from it without touching.

Shizuru gave her amused smile yet again. "Right. The boyfriend's."

I scowled, pushing down the odd sensation tingling through me, refusing to let myself blush. "No. The jailer's. No one in their right mind would fall for Hiei." And, though I may not be completelty sand, I do not fall for anyone.

"No one ever accused you of being right-minded." I glared at her, but refused to answer such an obviously pointless taunt.

Botan was examining a painting I had found at a tag sale. It was a swirly mix of blacks, blues, purples, and reds that somehow formed an indistinct image of a girl, half twisted around as though she had been caught by the artist unexpectedly, forever frozen in a fierce half snarl. I liked that painting. I hadn't been able to leave it there to be bought by just anyone that came along, and I didn't appreciate her gawking at it. Them examining my stuff was making me pissy.

I finally just grabbed a faded black sweatshirt that I'd cut the arms off of and cropped up to my midrift and a pair of faded, flair-legged, blue jeans that had so many holes in them I probably shouldn't wear them anymore. They're missing chunks of the thighs, pieces of the calves, and most of the knees, but I don't really care, so I haven't bothered getting rid of them. They cover the essential spots, so why bother? I stalked towards the bathroom, since they were all occupying my room.

"Don't…touch…anything," were my forced words as I slammed that door too, locking it behind me.

Minutes later I stormed back out, stuffed my feet into a pair of black converses, and grabbed a pair of leather, wrist cuff bracelets that I promptly snapped onto my wrists, completing the rebel punk look I had taken on for the night.

"I'm dressed. Get out." I opened the door with these angry words, and motioned for everyone to do as I was commanding. Keiko paused before leaving.

"You first. I'm making sure you come," she said. I smiled sharply at her and walked past her, leaving her to shut my door. If she wants to force me into doing something that I have no interest in she could deal with anything I want her to.

My voice was cheery as I called out to my dad despite the icy expression that remained on my face. "Bye dad! See you next week!"

His reply was vague, wafting in from the kitchen, probably as he talked on the phone trying to find someone to hook up with for the night. "Okay Hon! Love you!"

I scowled. "Love you too, Dad!" At least I didn't have to say it to his face. I think I was beyond being able to fake the look that was supposed to go with the words at this point.

Shizuru waited until we were out on the street before opening her mouth to comment on that whole little experience. "You wouldn't make a bad actress, if you wanted, Kisu," she said, glancing at me. "You almost had me convinced that you were a perky teenage girl back there."

I scowled at her before taking off at an easy jog, or what's an easy jog for me. I may not be fast, but I know how to run and eat up distances. I left them behind me, not bothering to explain as they yelled at me to get back there, and headed for Hiei's on my own, savoring the few moments alone, knowing they would probably be a few of the only ones I would get for the rest of the week, let alone the last ones I would get tonight.

----------------------------

No new words.... at least not ones that haven't shown up before....

Merry School-Vacations peoples!


	21. Chapter Twenty

Woohoo! Vacation! Oh ya! ::random happy dance:: And I have over fifty reviews! ::randomly spazes and falls over:: Me be-eth happy.

**Asilin: **Merci beacoup! Hm. Ya. I hate being blackmailed too...That's kind of why I made Kisu have to deal with it. (Kisu: Gosh, aren't you nice) ::glares at shifter:: But it's definetly tons of fun to do to other people! ::evil grin::

**Watermelon:** Hey! And welcome back! Don't worry. Kisu/Hiei stuff will start to pick up a bit now, but not a lot. Neither of them are that affectionate.... ::sweatdrops:: It makes it difficult to write without getting my throat slit by one or the other...

**Fire: **Um...ya...that's the problem with living in a world filled mostly with imbeciles... ::random:: Are you European?

**Fate:** Hey, okay. Just hang in there. And the offer will remain open for anytime you need it. And writing well just takes getting over your fear of what people will think of it (and shoving your inner editor into the closet until your ready to edit ::glares at her own closet that is emitting suspicious banging sounds and yells::) and lots of practice.... or not.... If you start something I've found that the ideas kind of just start to form themselves...

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**Chapter 20**

**Kisu…**

An hour later I was slumped on one end of the love seat, where I had somehow ended up next to Hiei. Joyous joy.

The others were ranged around the room on the other furniture, and the lights were out while we watched a movie. They said this was "The Rocky Horror Picture Show," but there was nothing horrific about it, just odd humor and strange situations.

I'd been sitting there ignoring it since they had started it, which had involved half and hour of arguing, ten minutes of food preparation, and then five minutes of fighting over who sat where.

Yusuke and Keiko were cuddled at one end of the big couch, Botan on the other end, Kurama and Kuwabara on opposite sides of the remaining couch, and Shizuru in the sofa chair. Some girl in the movie let out a particularly annoying scream, and I stood up, fed up with the movie, even after ten minutes of it.

Hiei glowered at me. "Where are you going?"

The others glanced over and Yusuke added a "Ya?"

I scowled. "I'd like to go find something interesting to do. Do any of you have a problem with that?"

There was a unanimous chorus of "Yes!" accompanied by a "Hn," from Hiei.

I could have glowered at any one of them, but I chose Hiei. "Don't tell me you're enjoying this crap?"

He kept glowering at me. "I'm not, but if I have to suffer through it, then you do to."

The others shhhhhed us and kept watching the movie. I leaned down and hissed at him.

"Why do either of us have to suffer through it?"

He shrugged moodily. "I don't know. Ask the fox. It was his idea to make us watch."

That was right. It was Kurama that had told the two of us that no, we could not just go lock ourselves in our respective rooms while the rest of them watched movies. His argument was that that would defeat the entire purpose of making either of us come, in my case, or stay, in Hiei's case, and that it would do both of us good to try to interact in a positive social manner.

At which point Yusuke had again started cracking jokes about the 'lovebirds.' He still hasn't stopped teasing Hiei and me about the sparring match he walked in on months ago. Thank god he wasn't there during the aspirin fiasco…

I'm beginning to suspect that pulling teeth would be less painful than willingly spending time with these fools.

I started walking towards the kitchen, not for anything in particular, just to get away from the nonsense, but Kurama's hand reached out and grabbed my hand as I walked by. I tried to rip my arm out of his hold, but, unfortunately, like everyone else non-human in this room, Kurama is stronger than me. I hate being the weakest.

I spun and leaned down towards his face, yanking my arm up and back, putting his in an odd position, and hissed, "What!"

He looked at me, not much on his face, the flickering from the TV screen dancing eerily across his features. "Go sit down, Kisu." I scowled at him, but he let go of my arm when I moved back to the coach. _This is why I hate them_, I thought, dropping back onto the cushions and crossing my arms over my chest, fuming.

_Join the club._

I glanced at Hiei as I felt his words slither across the back of my mind, but he was still scowling at the screen and hadn't moved.

I wiggled deeper into the couch and returned to the movie, letting my thoughts wander rather than pay attention to what I thought was pointless waste of time.

After "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" the others somehow came to the conclusion that we needed to watch a 'real' scary movie, which is why we were then forced to sit through "The Ring."

At some point in the middle of that movie I got so sick of just sitting there that I started thinking random comments at Hiei, and was even more surprised when Hiei answered me than I was to find myself doing it.

_Is this even possible?_

_Possible, but not probable._

_Does that even make sense?_

_Hn._

_Right. The standard answer to everything._ We didn't look at each other, and to all external appearances we were still staring at the TV glassy-eyed.

_It's better than blurting out the first thing that pops into my head._

_You would be talking about the bakas, correct? Because I always think things through, at very high speeds._ I sent the thought with a feeling of mock offense, having more fun poking fun at the movie, Hiei, and the others, than actually watching the movie, to the point where I stopped caring that I was actually having a civil conversation with Hiei, even if it couldn't completely count as verbal.

_Is that why your tongue always gets you into so many tight spots?_ I could feel his sarcasm clearly, so replied lightly and flippantly.

_It's not my fault that others do not appreciate my fine sense of humor._

_Odd, sadistic sense of humor._

I struggled to keep the actual smirk off of my face that time.

_Are you saying that your humor is not equally as disturbing as mine?_

_Hn._

_Right._

And so it went, for three more movies. But even poking fun of various stupid picture sequences gets tiresome after elongated periods of time, so we went back to staring at the screen unseeing somewhere in the middle of "Monty Python and the Holy Grail."

Our smart-ass comments had slowly become half-assed smart-ass comments, and then slowly withered into the non-existent brand.

My eyelids drooped as I moaned in aggravation moments before my jaw stretched in a bone popping yawn as Hiei muttered beside me drowsily.

"Bakas. They watch too many movies."

My eyes finally closed themselves as I absently nodded my agreement, and stayed closed as Yusuke again stood up, flipping on that blinding light, to pop in the fifth movie.

I think this is the point at which I passed out into something resembling sleep, listing sideways, muttering about stupid idiots who watch too many stupid videos, and drink too much caffeine, and eat too much junk food, answered by a heavy "Hn" from Hiei as he too began to sink into the couch in blissful unawareness.

Someone tucked a blanket around the two of us firmly, and we were oblivious to the rest of the world…

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Merry Chistmas people! And to all a good night! I really want to do a Christmas chapter and have it co-enside with actual Christmas...but I don't think I'll be able to get through the chapters I want before that one before Saturday....

::shrugs:: Oh well.... ::stabs writer's block with her new shiny katana::


	22. Chapter TwentyOne

::growls:: First I was kidnapped by the evil Christmas Demon, then I was locked in an alternete, internet-access-less dimension ruled by overly religous grandparents and parents that beg you to "_try_ to be normal for once." After this initial kidnapping I was then forced to stay there for three days, and my only means of comfort was my notebook and pen, where I was able to try to jot down parts of my new chappies whenever it was possible to escape from the throngs of relatives. The only good thing was the free gifts, such as my shiny new-used electric guitar (), and that it is enjoyable to see the relatives you don't get to see very often, just not for extended amounts of time.

But...I have escaped, and now I am back! And I plan on posting multiple chapters tonight! One good thing about being away from the computer, though, I suppose, is that it made me resort to spending inordinate amounts of time merely thinking about my plot, not typing it, which means I have finally managed to make all the separate pieces of the story merge into one big plot arc! Wee!

And apologies for not updating in so long... Just remember that I'll never be one of those authors that just suddenly disappears with no warning for months and months and months...especially when I have a story going, because the characters won't stop bugging me until I get to write 'the end' and I don't want to listen to the endless bickering indefinetly. There's still a good twenty chapters to go before the plot ends though, so stick in there!

**Pen: **Multiple updates, here they come! And if you're serious about getting a katana I am so insanely jealous of you, because I don't really have one, and probably won't for another couple of years, because my sensei says it will probably be _at least_ that long before he starts showing me real sword work.

**Fire:** Actually, yes, that was the reason I was asking, though I have been known to ask questions like that when they have absolutly _no_founding logic, so feel lucky that I wasn't just being a maniac. frowns I _think_ your logic makes sense... and I like RHPS too... I was just trying to think of a strange movie that most people do consider strange, and that's what I came up with...

**Fate:** ::randomly hugs:: Merry Non-Denomatory Holiday! ::giggles::

**Lachwen: **Yay! I'm glad you think so!

**Asilin:** Chappie! Yay! And ::bows:: Thank you very much, though this chapter kind of takes away from the cuteness factor.

**MoonGoddess: **You keep reviewing and I'll be sure to keep writing!

And I will now leave you all alone and allow you to read this new chapter, despite the fact that it did not come out the way I wanted it to.

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**Chapter 21**

**Hiei…**

The sounds of the living world slowly began to sift into his sleeping mind. When he began to wake up he usually woke completely immediately, so he savored the warm languid feel of that place between being either truly awake or asleep.

He liked this peace, and he rarely got to experience it.

He stretched slightly and let himself sink deeper into the couch. The couch? The thought crossed his mind quickly before vanishing, leaving behind none of the flashes of adrenaline that would usually accompany the realization that he was not in a place where he had expected himself to be.

Something mumbled and snuggled closer to his stomach, an appendage tightening around his waist. He shifted, turning on his side a little more, and the something shifted closer, the head moving up to now rest on the middle of his chest.

His arm dropped off of the back of the couch and he found his fingers buried in a mass of curly hair.

Hair? A head? An arm around his waist?

Something about that was obviously wrong.

But as his mind started paying attention and puzzling this out something dropped onto his head, activating century's worth of warrior survival instincts. Something touches you while you're asleep and you kill the first thing that you see. You hear something and you are immediately awake, immediately sharp-sensed, but waiting until you know where your prey is to attack and kill.

He jerked upright, hand reaching for the katana he wasn't wearing, eyes still bleary from sleep.

His body was pushing against something, though. He looked down, brain still not computing the signals it was being sent, to find Kisu's head resting against his chest, and the girl still fast asleep on top of him.

Her eyes blinked open slowly and she sat up with a yawn, stretching her arms above her head. And then froze, stiffening, probably realizing what she had been sleeping on, and was now sitting on, or more accurately, what she was now straddling. One eye opened cautiously. She inhaled sharply when her eyes met his and immediately tried to push away from him and scramble up and over the side of the loveseat. He lunged for her, still acting on instinct, and yanked her closer again, putting their faces tantalizingly close, refusing to let her get away, inadvertently pressing their lower bodies together.

Something in his brain clicked back into place and put him back on manual control when her face unexpectedly flushed in a light blush. It wasn't overly defined or obvious, but it was enough to make her pale face look rosy. It was enough to surprise him, causing him to blink, and immediately release her.

She scooted away from him as soon as his arm was removed, glaring at him from the other end of the seat where she was now perched.

Or, at least, she glared while he was still staring blankly, still trying to wake up, which was highly unusual for him, as before mentioned, until they heard a muffled snicker from off to the side.

Kisu's glare shifted and fastened on something over his shoulder, changing to full-blown disgust as her eyes flashed with anger and the first sign of real energy since she had woken up in this strange situation. He found himself watching her now, fascinated, not looking for the source of the sound like he normally would.

"Kuso, Yusuke! What the hell is your issue!" she yelled at him, slipping off the couch and stalking towards him. There was a clump as a red-faced Kuwabara fell to the ground shaking. Hiei glared at him, and his fascination with Kisu snapped. Kisu shot an irritated glance back at him while she stood over a hysterical Yusuke.

_Are you going to stand there and gape all day or are you going to help me deliver retribution?_

He slipped off the couch as well now, matching her irritation with scorn, and flashed over to stand next to her over the laughing imbecile.

_I don't think we can blame this entirely on Yusuke, Kisu._ She sneered at him.

_Watch me try anyway._ Hiei shrugged and looked down at the boy disdainfully as Yusuke tried to squeeze some words between his rambunctious laughter.

"Your hair…Hiei…." He doubled over, clutching his stomach as tears of laughter started to trickle out of the corners of his eyes. "It's…the…peanut butter!" Hiei glared at him, sick of listening to his nonsense.

"Shut it, baka, before I shut it for you," he growled. Yusuke was still laughing, but made an effort to calm it some and sit up. They all ignored the mass of fat that was Kuwabara.

"The looks on your faces…" He stopped, threatening to fall into the pits of amusement once again. The corner of Kisu's eye twitched, Hiei scowled harder, and Yusuke choked on a new bout of laughter. "Your hair, Hiei, your hair!"

With that the baka fell sideways again as his laughter returned full force and he randomly waved a spoon at the kajihenge's head.

Kisu glanced at Hiei quickly before looking back at the boy at their feet, and then did a double take before the corners of her mouth twitched and something less serious than usual slipped into her eyes.

The others, meaning Keiko, Shizuru, and Botan, started to stir and wake up, grumbling about the ningens annoying laughter, in their places sprawled across the couches.

They sat up, rubbing the stubborn sleep out of their eyes, but began to giggle as well when they caught sight of Hiei.

He finally reached a hand up to touch his own hair, apprehensive and bewildered.

There was something gooey in it…

He looked at the brown gunk that covered his fingers and was slathered in his hair, looking up when he heard an unfamiliar snicker, to find that Kisu had a hand clamped over her mouth, the other wrapped tightly around her waist, eyes dancing merrily.

Had he ever heard her this close to laughing? He didn't think he had, but he glared at her anyway, which only caused the corners of her eyes to crinkle with the suppressed laughter. He felt a thought bounce off of his mind shields and opened them just enough, and just long enough, for it to slip through.

_Now you just need the jelly to go with that sandwich._ He scowled as he looked away from her with a "Hn."

Everyone but her laughed a little harder as he swept the room with his worst death glare and stalked towards the kitchen, only to find an already entirely functional and productive Kurama once again cooking in his kitchen.

"Why are you always in here, fox? How much is there to do?" he growled, gliding to the sink angrily before turning on the water and plunging his head under the water.

Kurama glanced at him, eyes amused. "Whatever you've neglected Hiei."

The fire apparition lifted his head and glared at him, the peanut butter mostly gone, but his hair still weighted down flat by the grease.

"Like what?"

"Cooking, dishes, reminding people to eat. Those kind of important things." His eyes flashed mischievously. "And interfering before certain people can kill others."

It was Hiei's eyes turn to flash, though his were angry, and approaching complete hatred and disgust. "Either shut it and tell me how to get this substance out of my hair _now_, or you will be preventing interference on your own life."

Kurama grinned slyly, completely un-intimidated by Hiei's attitude, as he crossed the kitchen from where he was making pancake's at the stove to stand next to a dripping Hiei. A line of brownish water began to trickle from the plastered hair down his face and nose.

"That _substance_ would be peanut butter, and it would probably help to use soap to get it out." He leaned forward and snagged the dish detergent off of the back of the sink before waving it in Hiei's face.

The demon snagged it and snarled as they heard a girlish scream, followed by laughter, as Kuwabara was most likely thrown into a wall or something by an irritable Kisu.

Kurama glanced at the door, leaning against the counter next to Hiei, as Hiei ignored it and went back to washing his hair.

Moments later Kisu stormed into the kitchen, yelling back into the living room as she came. "Damn it! Stay the fuck away from me, or, so help me god, I will slaughter you!" The laughter became a little more nervous, followed by some crashing sounds and the slamming of a door as Kuwabara decided that he would be safer just getting out of there, having eaten breakfast or no.

Hiei snagged a dishtowel off of the counter and began drying his soaking hair, having finally gotten most of the peanut butter scum out of it, as Kisu stalked over to the refrigerator and yanked it open a little more violently than she needed to.


	23. Chapter TwentyTwo

It was the middle of last week, before vacation started, that I suddenly looked at the japanese kid that goes to my school again. He moved to America from Japan when we were both in seventh grade, so he's been here for a while, and I used to have a crush on him.

And then I got over it, and didn't think about him until he got on the bus the other day, when I suddenly realized that, oh my god, he's, like, bishie pretty! ::ignore the valleygirl-ness. just trying to get the point across::

The point is that I know a real life bishie! ::runs around room:: Even though I don't like him anymore. ::musing:: I think it's his new glasses that have done it, and his awesome hair cut, which is longish, with bangs in his face and over his eyes to almost his chin, which is very rock-star-ish...

Meh. You can actually ignore this. I just don't like not writing something in the author's note. ::sweatdrops::

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**Chapter 22**

**Kisu…**

I was surprised to find Hiei in the kitchen when I entered and had to severely squash the sudden urge to blush, having remembered how I had woken up this morning, followed by, having pushed that image away, the returned urge to giggle from having seen Hiei's hair completely slathered with sandwich fixings. Neither were dignified, so I resisted the urge to do either.

Said fire demon was now standing in front of the sink rubbing a towel over his hair, the floor around his feet covered in water. Did he use the sink to wash his hair?

I don't see why he didn't just go up to his room and use the shower. It would have made more sense. Plus I wouldn't have had to deal with him if he had done that.

Not that I'm saying that the waking up hadn't been somewhat enjoyable. It had been like having a really good dream, and then suddenly realizing it was real, which wasn't as good a thing, and being like, 'oh fuck, what did I do to deserve this now?' This happens to me more often than I would like. It just doesn't usually involve waking up in a possible bishi's lap.

I suddenly realized what I was musing over and slammed my brain closed on that subject, somewhat shocked that I had even been considering one of these _people_ as possibly having potential to be something more, and automatically checked my shields.

It's a little scary how fast this habit has come back.

My shields have consistently been in place more and more often over the last few months, but they still slip sometimes when I'm not paying attention to them, and if they slip, I'd rather compulsorily check them too often than suddenly discover that they're down when it's too late to salvage the damage and keep certain little fire demons away from embarrassing, blackmail worthy thoughts.

I stalked over to the fridge and yanked it open as Hiei tossed the towel back onto the counter. Reaching for the blood I sniffed the air as I caught a whiff of something unpleasant.

"Your pancakes are burning, Kurama."

He shrugged and started towards the stove as I straightened, bottle already lifting to my mouth, just in time to see Hiei pull his sopping shirt off. Great. Just great. Just what I need, as my libido has so kindly pointed out. The subtle movements of his chest had me rooted to the spot, transfixed, as he pulled it off. I've never seen Hiei shirtless before, so give me a little slack. I'm not at my best, as you can probably tell, and I've been excessively distractable since I woke up, and hyper-sensitive where Hiei is involved. Though, also, come to think of it, I don't think I've ever seen any of the guys shirtless.

He dropped the shirt on the counter with the towel and my eyes were drawn to the white bandages that wrapped his right-forearm, bandages that I had never noticed before. "What?" he demanded sharply.

I lifted to my eyes to his, for once letting them trail up his body as I did, until I met his gaze. I know the look in my eyes wasn't hunger, but it definitely wasn't embarrassment, or the carefully blank look I usually wear. I guess it might have been a bit predatory, but not in a food-related way. Shit for me.

He met the look with a glare of his own, because, unfortunately, I wasn't glaring at him as I usually do. I was just watching him very intently. Something flickered behind his eyes; a flitting thought, a feeling I couldn't interpret, but it was gone before I was even able to attempt to recognize.

Not that I was exactly trying, though, because I was still a little distracted by his shirtlessness, a fact that I am not happy about. I finally wrenched my eyes away from him and started banging my head against the fridge. It's too early to think rationally, and I'm not in the mood to deprive myself of this little habit, especially if it means it will be exceedingly difficult to focus on anything for the next hour at least.

------------(no. not the end. just trying to do a scene cut type thing, and the computers aren't agreeing with me...)----

And it was at this point that Yusuke entered, followed by a shout from Keiko.

"Hentai!"

He chuckled, yelling back, "You know it, baby!" as his eyes swept over the interesting scene before him. Hiei was standing by the sink, staring at me with a slightly bemused, yet disgusted expression, I was pounding my brains out on the freezer door, and Kurama was languidly dumping a burning mass of dough into the sink and washing the ashes down the drain. Of course, the only thing he immediately chose to comment on was me.

"What's wrong with Kisu?" he said as he eyed the smoke rising from the sink.

I paused in my banging long enough to glare at him.

"Nothing," I growled, staggering over to the kitchen table, where I dropped into a chair and resumed my repetitive banging, this time using the tabletop in place of the refrigerator.

He gave me and odd look, not unlike ones I've received from him before while in the midst of doing something exceedingly strange, before turning back to Kurama, who was now holding the pan under the steady stream of water to cool it off.

"We're all heading down to the arcade. We were going to wait until after breakfast." He paused as he glanced back at the stove. "But we can just stop at a breakfast place on the way. It's obvious that these two don't want to come." Hiei glared at him. "We're leaving now. Wanna come?" He shot a sideways grin at me before continuing. "Besides, the birds never get enough time alone, do you?"

I could feel Hiei moving towards the fool already, so I just continued to kill brain cells, and a moment later Yusuke was yelping and hopping out of the kitchen.

"Fine. Fine! Lay off, Hiei! Ow!"

I lifted my head and snickered as Hiei turned the full force of his scarlet eyes back to me. This time I met his eyes, feeling slightly amused, but still ready to hurt something if the opportunity arose.

Kurama sauntered out of the kitchen saying, "Try not to break anything while we're gone," ignoring our glaring match, and us in general.

The bad cooking, casual brush off, and general feel of Kurama's attitude this morning just hasn't been him.

I looked back at Hiei, my eyes having followed fox boy out the door, this time the amused look also somewhat quizzical. "What's up with him?" The demon shrugged and started heading for the door.

I stood up fast and swayed. I think I may have hit my head a few times too many. "Hey! I asked you a question!" Yep, I definitely made scrambled eggs in my cranium case.

Fluff-head glanced over his shoulder at me, annoyance flickering across his face. "Hn. That matters why?"

I took a step forward, growling and raising a fist at him, only to find myself tilting sideways, and discover that up wasn't really the direction my eggs were thinking it was.

However, I suddenly found myself propped on the edge of the table, not sprawled on the floor like I had been expecting moments before, and Hiei's hands quickly being removed from my waist as he muttered "baka onna."

I glared at the back of his head as he finally made it out of the room. "Well!?" There was no visible sign that he had heard me, but one word whispered across the back of my mind, effortlessly slipping through my shields.

_Youko._

It's not like that one word really cleared anything up for me, and Hiei very well damn knew it, but it was more his subtle way of pointing out that my shields, however strong I think they might have become, still mean nothing when compared to his powers, and that my concentration is still shit, slipping whenever I get distracted by emotions.

Joy.

I hate you too, Hiei.


	24. Chapter TwentyThree

Meh... I almost had this ready to post and the computer just deleted it. So... here we go again. I am currently four hours from my computer and normal home. I am at my father's for New Year's. He owns nothing. He has a TV, but no cable, no computer, no internet. Don't expect anymore updates this week because I'm here untill Saturday and the local library limits people to 30 minutes of computer time, _if_ you sign up. I finished this chapter _five minutes_ before leaving yesterday! Do you know how mad that made me? Anyways, ya. I'm at the library now... and I'm almost out of time... so I'm just gonna post this thing...

**Fire:**::random hug:: Your scaring me more than usual, but that's okay! I'll still hug you! ::Growls at fire's parents::

**Pen:** Stop whinging! ::hides:: It hurts me! Ah!

The next couple of chapters should be a bit longer.

**Fate:** I'm sorry I'm gone again! ::hides::

**Watermellon:** Kind of. I'll explain later. No time now! ::runs from librarian::

**Asilin:**Please don't give Kisu anymore knives... She has too many already... (Kisu: ::evil laugh::) My creation scares me sometimes...

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**Chapter 23**

**Kisu…**

It's almost twelve o'clock now, and I've been sitting at the kitchen table for the last few hours trying to force myself to actually do some of the English homework, by myself for once, _without_ Yusuke's help.

I finally drank that bottle I pulled out the fridge earlier, but didn't get around to drinking because I was hitting my head on things, plus two more while I've been trying to force my brain to interpret this meaningless goop.

I haven't seen Hiei since he walked out of the room earlier either. His door was shut when I went up to my room to find my school stuff, though, so that's probably where he is.

I took another sip as I reread the same page for the fifth time, the meaning of the passage escaping me entirely.

Why the hell do people write this stuff down when it would be so much easier to just say it?

I came to the end of the page and was about to start on the next when I realized that I had yet again failed to comprehend anything that I had just read.

"Che!" I slammed my fist into the table, inches away from the book, imagining the knife I'd like to be taking to it, but let out a wordless, exasperated "Ah!" as one of my empty bottles tottered and fell off of the table, shattering into many, many little pieces.

And me without any shoes.

"Great. This. Is just. Wonderful." I slammed my head against the table, once, hard, and stayed like that.

Hiei, of course, chose now to rematerialize.

"Books aren't pillows, baka."

I turned my head sideways, still laying on top of the book, and glared at him. "It's more useful this way," I growled through clenched teeth.

He gave me a look that said he clearly didn't believe me. I watched him disdainfully as he leaned against the sink.

"From my understanding, books are meant to be read."

I scowled. "Well, that just goes to show how much you know, Jagan head."

I noticed with smug satisfaction the anger that caused his jaw muscles to tighten momentarily as I used his title.

He glared at me. "I would watch who's throwing stones before throwing any of your own, hanyou." The last word was said with a sneer, as he looked me up and down, the disdain in his voice and eyes obvious.

I may not like my heritage, but I'm proud of what I have, which is what brought me to my feet, snarling and knocking my chair over, and had me suddenly standing inches from Hiei, yelling in his face, and stabbing him in the chest with a finger. "Watch what you say, kisama," I hissed, accentuating each word with a finger jab.

"Stop poking me before I break your finger." His tone was dark enough that I stepped back, so that I couldn't poke him anymore, snapping my teeth at him, eyes flashing angrily.

His tone turned more sarcastic as soon as I had stepped away. "And why would I listen to you, ikeike, a lowly blood sucker?"

Forget broken bones. Who cares about them? I lunged at Hiei with a screech. "Take that back, you bastard! And how many times to I have to tell you that it's Bloodmonger! Not blood sucker!" I tried to wrap my hands around that pale throat of his and strangle his idiotic insults there, but he stepped out of my way, and I was depending too much on anger and instinct to duck out of the way as he brought the hilt of his katana up and struck me in the back of the head.

I immediately collapsed onto the floor face first, at which point I rolled over and hissed up at him. "Aisuhana."

He watched me, looking slightly, but darkly, amused. "That doesn't even make sense, baka." I stumbled to my knees, one hand clutching the back of my head, the other reaching to grasp the edge of the counter to use it to lever myself upright, wincing slightly as the world spun momentarily.

"Yes, it does." I glowered at him. "That's exactly what you are. A pansy that hides behind a wall of ice." I flashed white teeth at him as I finally got myself standing again and sauntered over to the table, where I slammed my book shut and gathered up my useless school supplies. His eyes followed me, trying to scorch me to death with his anger and disgust.

"You're pitiful, onna," he spat at me.

I shrugged, ignoring him as I exited the kitchen and started up the stairs, arms full of books. "What would I know, Hiei? I'm just a blood sucker," I responded, weighting my voice down with as much sarcasm as I could shovel into it.

Usually Hiei drops whatever our current issue happens to be when I start up the stairs, but today he followed me out of the kitchen, hand on his katana hilt, and leaned against my doorjamb as I dropped my junk on the bed. I usually wear a tank top and sweatpants when I train, but I was still wearing the cutoff sweatshirt and jeans from last night and decided that those would have to do, especially since Hiei was still standing there, watching me.

I flitted around the room, ignoring Hiei, gathering my weapons, getting down on my knees to pull my glaive out from under the bed, strapping knife sheaths to my wrists, waist, and the middle of the back, giving me a total of five knives. When I'm serious I have ones that I can add to my ankles and thighs, but I usually just work with these ones when training.

I was about to push back the youkai when I spotted my pill bottle on the desk and reached for it on impulse. I popped the lid off of it and downed two before my brain had a chance to mull over the fact that Hiei, nor any of the others, have ever seen me take them.

I also forgot the little fact that I haven't taken them for a couple days, meaning that their physical affects are automatically multiplied a couple of times. This is what anger does to me. It makes me do stupid things, and is why I let out a very loud shout of "Kuso!" when my knees suddenly gave way and I collapsed heavily, catching myself painfully on an elbow as it smashed into the wood of the table. I barely had a moment to recover when the second phase of the pills took affect, the part where that foreign rei constricts around mine.

I gasped as the air was suddenly squeezed from my lungs in that familiar pain, and my body tensed, straining against the boundaries of flesh and bone to escape what I put myself through every few days, then fell forward limply, catching myself on the staff part of my glaive, as the tension released as suddenly as it had come.

I had a moment to glance up at Hiei to see how he had reacted to this little show, and the ebb and flow of unfamiliar energy signatures, face drawn, before I unexpectedly found myself on my back, pinned to the floor, with his katana to my throat. His eyes were wild and deadly as he hissed, "What the hell did you just do?"

I panted, trying to regain my breath again, finding it difficult to do with his knee planted firmly in my stomach. "Why do you care?"

He leaned down closer to my face and repeated himself, somewhat. "What were those pills, Kisu?"

I managed to gasp out, "None of your business," finding it harder than usual to readjust to this more constricted form, and could already feel my hunger rising.

He managed to lean even closer to me, until our faces were barely an inch apart. "Did you know that your power level just dropped from a high C range to a mid level E at best?" he hissed. "Where did that power go?" His eyes were trying to bore into mine; my eyes, which were still having trouble focusing after the pills. Darn, those pills have been taking even more from me than I've suspected all along. If that was how much more energy I had after a few days of not taking the pill and the constraints loosening, how much energy would I really have if they were suddenly to disappear altogether?

I leaned my head back, trying desperately to get enough air. Could it be the bump on the head that Hiei had given me? That was doubtful, but I was beginning to be slightly worried. "Hiei, get off of me," I gasped, voice slightly breathier than before.

His eyes narrowed, face still scant centimeters from mine, katana still pressed firmly against my throat. "Why?"

"Hiei." I tried to wiggle out from under him, but he had me pinned too firmly. "Hiei," I said again, trying to form the words. "I need blood. Either get off me or get it for me." He finally rolled off of me, somewhat grudgingly, somewhat curious, so that I could crawl back to the desk and grab a bottle out of the box I kept filled under it. I downed the entire bottle in one gulp and gasped again as the tightness in my chest immediately released and I could breathe again. My sight cleared again halfway through the second bottle, and by the end of that one my body again felt like it wouldn't immediately fall apart if I tried to stand.

Hiei resumed to questioning me, this time being slightly more understanding, or maybe I was just relieved to be able to breath again so was feeling unusually cooperative. Whatever it was, I answered part of his next couple of questions.

"What were those?" he was leaning against my bed, one leg stretched out in front of him, the other one propped up, and his katana lying threateningly, unsheathed, beside him.

I opened a third bottle before answering, contemplating what to tell him, and how much if he asked, while I took a sip. This one was more to give me something to do, and to make sure my body had definitely had enough to stabilize itself, than because I direly needed it. This is especially important if I still plan to train. Always remember, freaky accidents and occurrences are not enough to interfere with your training schedule, ever. Nothing is. You train no matter what. "They're special pills that I take." I knew it wasn't the answer he was looking for, but I didn't want to give away more than the minimum required to satisfy him.

He stared at me. "Why do you take them?" This is the type of information I don't want to share, because it will lead to more questions, which would lead to having to explain my whole past if someone asked and I was willing to explain everything so that it made sense.

I stiffened as I drained the last of my blood and moved to stand up. He was immediately in front of me, blocking the direct path to the door. I turned to walk around him, and he was instantly there. "Tell me."

I glanced at him as I stooped down to pick up my glaive again, somewhat resigned to telling him at least part of the truth. That just goes to show how fed up I truly was.

"It's not a personal choice, if that's what you're wondering," I stated. I bit back my sigh before it escaped. "If given a choice I wouldn't take them." Or at least that's how I feel most of the time. The rest of the time I wonder if I really want to know what my true form is. The self-doubt creeps in and I find myself wondering if they force me to avoid my true shape because it's ugly beyond belief, even though I don't care about things like that, and know that that probably isn't true. If I had been ugly they would have enhanced those features that contributed to it and made me deal with it.

I knew he wasn't satisfied with the answer, but he didn't press the subject further as I slid past him in the doorway, for a moment almost pressed against him again, and then started down the stairs to the living room. He retrieved his katana, sliding it back into place as he followed me, but I could feel his assessing gaze on the back of my head. I just chose to ignore it and refuse to let him intimidate me.

I placed my glaive off to the side as I prepared to go through my warm up exercises while Hiei took his place against the wall. I started the same way I always do when training in the living room, where anyone could walk in at anytime and see what I was working on. I went through my stretches, basic ones to ease up my muscles, and then launched into the same kata I had been doing that first time Hiei interrupted my training months ago. This time, though, I wasn't able to slip into it. I could feel Hiei there behind me, or off to the side, depending on where I was in the room and in the kata, and the tension between my shoulders wasn't going away.

Usually, when I train on my own, I can slip off into my own little world, and even if there _are_ other people in the room, I get to the point where they don't exist for me. I don't like it when people watch me while I work, assess me while I'm just training for myself, especially when they haven't asked permission to do so. But pointing this out to Hiei would be admitting that he was getting on my nerves, and that has become another one of those things that I avoid doing when I can.

I contemplated trying another kata for a moment, to see if, by doing another, I would be able to relax like I usually do, but decided to just start working with my glaive. I usually limit myself to training with my weapons in my room, and the glaive is a big enough weapon that it's a fairly hard to use it in an enclosed space.

As though he had been listening in on my thoughts, _which is entirely possible_, I thought as I checked my shields, Hiei chose now to ask his next question. "You train with your weapons up in your bedroom." Okay, so it was more of a statement. I mused for a moment over the fact that he had conceded that he considered it my room as well, and wondered when that had happened.

I muttered the answer as I moved into position to do a warm-up kata with the glaive. Some people think that warming up with basic patterns is a waste of time, but I've found, from years of experience, that it makes any training I do afterwards more effective than if I didn't, because I've already gotten my body back into the rhythm of the weapon, or the art I'm working in if I'm empty handed, instead of trying to do that while I'm working on things I want to improve. "Everyone's gone today. I'm taking advantage of the peace and quiet." Everyone except the most bothersome of them all that is, and, all things considered, it has not been quiet _or_ peaceful.

I stepped out with one foot as I spoke, swinging into the first move of this pattern. The glaive swung out and up, like a pendulum, from the position I held it at my side. When it reached the top of its arc I turned, preparing to use its momentum to give my next attack extra power, slicing down in a powerful cut. I felt the tension finally go out of my body and my blood to sing with the movements, when I suddenly found my cut halted halfway, with a clunk of metal on wood, and then found my cut redirected off to the side. I spun, disengaging our weapons as soon as possible, and twisting out of the way as Hiei's katana sliced the air by my stomach again. I turned back to face him again, bringing the staff part of the glaive up to block a cut to the face at the last moment.

I managed to push away from him, landing easily in a fighting stance, before beginning to circle him, more hoping that it would keep him from attacking again immediately than anything else.

"How many times do I have to tell you that interrupting someone's training is rude, Hiei?" I stepped to the side as he lunged forward with a straight attack, but realized too late that it was merely a feint, and had to quickly drop into a low crouch to avoid the slice that would have taken my head off. I'm not entirely sure how serious this fight is yet. I don't know if Hiei is merely toying with me, annoying me, trying to humiliate me, or if he's trying to kill me. I swung my glaive from where I was, trying to knock him off his feet my hitting him in the back of the knees, but knew it wouldn't work as soon as I started the move.

And I was right. At the point where it would have connected with him he flashed away, leaving me vulnerable on the floor while I had no clue where he was.

I rolled to my feet, staying where I was, trying to sense his energy signature like I had last time. For a moment I could sense him perfectly, every move, every step, every shift, but then, either because my abilities are fickle and subject to change, or him kicking it up and moving faster, I suddenly could only sense a glimpse of him here or there, never in the same spot for long, and not consistently. I felt his energy clearly again, just for a moment, and barely had time to jump out of the way yet again. This time he stayed in my face, though, forcing me to clumsily block attack after attack, as his attacks became steadily stronger, harder, and faster.

_That was months ago. Maybe I forgot._

"Oh. Ya, Hiei. Like I'm gonna believe that." The words were uttered distractedly, as I twisted and turned, bringing my glaive up to block his attacks.

_Why shouldn't you? I have any reason to want revenge._

My mind whirled off, trying to remember why he wanted revenge on me, as his sarcastic comment so clearly stated that he did.

"If this is about that aisuhana comment, then you take yourself way too seriously," I mumbled. The wood of my glaive was chipping. This is a practice weapon, weighted for strength, but not hardened to withstand the assault Hiei was making me defend against. I paused for the briefest second as I suddenly remembered the last time we had sparred, when I had kicked his knee out, and the pause was just long enough for Hiei to come in with an extra hard cut. I fumbled to get the staff up in time, barely making it, and the force of it finally snapped the wood. His katana snaked past the last of my defenses, licking at my bare stomach before I could push away from him again. I shoved him in the shoulder as I threw myself backwards, rolling away from him and back to my feet. My hand automatically went to my stomach, checking the damage, as I slipped a knife out of a wrist sheath.

"That really wasn't nice, you know." Hiei smirked at me, but said nothing, as he stood there, unmoving.

_Have you ever known me to care about that?_

"No. And would you stop speaking telepathically. It's annoying."

_If your shields were better that wouldn't be a problem_

I scowled, crossing my arms, having decided that the stomach slice was merely a flesh wound, but I kept the knife in my hand just in case, and made sure my other hand was near another one if I needed it quickly.

"I'm very aware of that, Hiei. Now would you like to explain to me what this is all about?"

He shrugged and continued to smirk. _I've seen you fight hand to hand. I've tested your strengths. Just seeing how you fare with a weapon in your hand._

I scowled. "And how exactly do I measure up to your expectations so far?"

His eyes filled with dark humor. _I was expecting more._

"I've never said I was great with weapons, you know," I snapped.

_And I've never had the opportunity before now to test you._

"Great. So I'm just supposed to let you beat on me so that you can convince yourself that you're some macho demon thing and I'm some weakling hanyou?"

His sneer grew wider. _I wouldn't have described it like that, but sure._

"I'm so happy." If I was going to have to fight him anyways I wasn't going to wait around for him to start it again, which is why I suddenly lunged at him, pulling another knife in the process. Of course, even with this mild element of surprise, _if_ Hiei was staying out of my thoughts for once, he's so much faster than me that he was still able to phase out of range, and behind me, in time to clobber me on the back of the head again before I could realize what was going on.

However, I have also been falling so much today that I immediately realized that, once again, I was heading towards becoming a heap of limbs on the floor, and turned the fall into a roll, coming back to my feet with every intention of spearing Hiei where he had stood behind me.

He was no longer there, obviously.

"How the hell did you get so fast?" I shouted.

His answer was again mental, and accompanied by that dark humor of his. _You expected me to hold back like last time?_

This is when I felt a spike of energy behind me. I again managed to avoid the brunt of the attack, but caught the edge of the attack on the flesh at the side of my back, which incidentally parted like butter under Hiei's expertly sharpened blade. It wasn't deep enough that I needed to worry about it, but it was his second point on me when I had none on him. My avoiding his attack had caused me to spin into his body, though, something I usually avoid doing, since it means the opponent merely has to bring their weapon up to my throat to end the game, but I had been unable to avoid as I had barely known he was behind me, and then not even exactly where he was.

And now we know the reason I did something incredibly stupid that resulted in me getting hurt a lot worse than I needed to. That ending would have been anti-climatic, but it might have satisfied Hiei's need for revenge. Then again, maybe it wouldn't have, seeing as it would have been the equivalent of surrendering without even attempting to fight for me, and I'm fairly certain that surrender under any situation offends Hiei.

I didn't pause to think of the consequences as I jabbed a knife into his arm and used it to slice down the length of said arm, cutting deep into the muscles, and deftly slipped the other one between his fingers and the hilt of his sword, using it to lever the weapon out of his grip, ignoring any injuries the action could cause.

Hiei cursed as he pushed me away, plucking two of my three remaining knives out of their sheaths in the process, and lunged at me before I even had a chance to regain my balance, or comprehend what I had just pulled.

I don't know what happened to the dagger I stuck him in the arm with, but I dropped the one I used on his hand when I caught his sword, which I am now holding. Have I ever mentioned that I have no idea how to use a katana? Theoretically I know how to use anything that resembles a dagger or a staff, but beyond that I'm worse than lost. In battle, I'm dead.

I did my best trying to block with the katana, but failed miserably, doing even worse than I had been with glaive or knives. I attempted to parry, always a second too late, as my own knives bit into my flesh rapidly and seemingly simultaneously. I suddenly realized that, despite Hiei's earlier comment, he had still been holding back where _his_ skills were concerned, but was now just trying to do as much damage in as short a span of time as possible to me now that I had made him angry. The difference between his anger this time, and his anger last time, I suspect, is that he can still stand, and that, if he had still been able to stand last time, I would probably have found myself treated to the same thing I'm experiencing now.

Hiei continued to dart at me from all angles, as I stood frozen, unable to sense him at all, only feel the bite of his attacks, as my nerve endings began to dull to the sudden overload of pain. Individually the wounds weren't much, but all at once, and delivered in such a small amount of time, they quickly become overwhelming to the body. I could feel my grip on Hiei's sword beginning to loosen, so did the first thing instincts could dictate.

I let go of everything and let my body lunge in whatever direction it decided was good, letting out a scream of fury, and surprised myself by suddenly seeing Hiei freeze in the path of his own sword. I continued with the cut, mildly surprised that I had chosen the right direction and too deep into it to care, only guessing at what I was doing, angry at him for the way he was mocking me, but hesitated at the last second for an infinitesimally small amount of time, not quite willing to strike the fatal blow that this would be if I followed it through. In that instant Hiei's eyes hardened again, and he again flashed out from under the blade. My attack still swung through to its end, useless, as Hiei cut into the muscle in the back of my thigh as soon as he was gone, deeper than any of the previous attacks had been by either of us. My leg collapsed under me as it came back to the ground, the muscle severed I'm guessing, and I turned as I again started to fall forward onto my face, trying to avoid impaling myself on the blade. Said blade was immediately wrenched from my grasp and flung across the room as I landed top of one of my owns hands, pinning it, and my other one was also pinned, the knife either intentionally or unintentionally cutting into my wrist. I grimaced as Hiei again shoved his knee into my gut and roughly pushed my knife against my throat. I still had a knife in the sheath at my back, but it was more than useless with my arm trapped by Hiei's weight as well as my own.

"Okay, Hiei. I think you've won. You can get off of me now."

The knife immediately moved away from my throat, but the rest remained. "Good. We're even."

My response to that was a little bit more peevish than it needed to be, but I was just humiliated worse than I have been in years, sustaining some possibly serious injuries in the process, causing me to hiss back at him, "I'm so happy," as I made a disgusted face.

He ignored me as he rolled off of me and stood, finally allowing me to sit up and examine my various injuries. I was quickly able to write off most of them as mere scratches, not to be worried about. The worst damage caused by Hiei's knife attacks was to my clothes. My jeans were decimated, even more than they had been when I put them on, and quickly becoming bloodstained. My sweatshirt hadn't fared much better, though the majority of the cuts were on my stomach and arms, where there hadn't been any fabric to worry about to begin with. I tried to wipe a smear of blood off of my check with the back of my hand, but it didn't work, my hand being covered in as much blood as everything else. The slice in my wrist was the messiest of them all, the edges being jagged and uneven from where the knife had rubbed back and forth as Hiei had shifted his grip on my wrist. I finally turned my attention to the wound that was obviously the worst. I hadn't looked at it yet, stealing myself for it by examining everything else first.

I ran my fingers over the cut, since I couldn't see it, it being on the back of my leg, probing its depth, and immediately noticed the dangerously heavy blood flow. "Shit, Hiei. You didn't have to take out the muscle _and _the artery," I mumbled, and jerked when something soft landed on my head, followed by a series of soft metallic clinks next to me.

"Use that to stem the blood flow. I'll get the first aid kit."

I glared at him as I pressed the couch pillow to the back of my leg, ignoring the pain and the pile of weaponry next to me, noticing the slight bounce in his step. "Well, aren't we just nice and perky." How the hell do I get myself into these situations? The smart thing would have been to surrender as soon as I realized what was going on, but of course I hadn't, and the only thing I had accomplished was getting myself injured and slicing Hiei's palm and arm up a bit. Oh, wow. Big deal.

My stomach flip-flopped when he came back into the room though, carrying the first-aid stuff and licking his arm wound. I was bathed in my own blood, yet seeing him lick up his own was still doing very bad things to me.

I blame it on the blood loss.

I snapped at him. "Stop that." He stopped and stared at me, as though he hadn't even realized he had been doing it until I had said something.

"Why? Does it bother you?" His eyes were taunting as he slowly and deliberately licked the cut again, watching for my reaction. I closed my eyes as my gut clenched, and then swayed as I was hit with a wave of lightheadedness.

I clenched my teeth and lied, eyes still closed. "No, you imbecile. I'm suffering from blood loss and you're just standing there." I opened an eye in time to see his lips twitch at some unknown joke, probably directed at me, which I really don't care about right now, as he dropped to the ground next to me.

"It could have been worse," he said as he removed the already soaked pillow and stuck his fingers into the wound.

I clenched my teeth, fingers digging into the carpet against the pain. "Ya? And how exactly do you figure that?" I managed.

He started to push me back down. "I could have gutted you."

Okay, he has a point there, but I'm more concerned with him pushing me backwards again. "Hey! What the hell are you doing!" I said, tensing and fighting against his hand, though it wasn't very effective. He's stronger than me, and I'm getting weaker with every passing ounce.

He released me, instead opening the first-aid kit and pulling out gauze, scissors, thread, and a needle. "Your leg needs stitches. I can't reach it unless you're on your stomach." His tone was carefully empty, as though he was hiding laughter.

I glared at him as I carefully shifted myself. _You could have just said so, _I thought.

"But would you have listened?" I jumped as he answered my thought.

"I hate it when you do that, you know that?" I growled. He just smirked and threaded the needle. "Fine, whatever. At least give me some so I can do my wrist at the same time." He shrugged and tossed me the one he had just threaded and reached for another.

I propped myself up on my elbows and started stitching, again ignoring the majority of the pain caused by sticking oneself with a needle. "So Hiei, just how much medical training do you have?" He answered with a grunt. "Should I be worried?" No answer.

But a few moments later he was tugging the severed edges of my muscles back together and swiftly stitching them up, hopefully in a straight line. I gasped as my head spun and, unfortunately, accidentally stabbed myself with my own needle. He paused and cut that string, meaning he had finished sewing together that layer of tissue, and looked at me critically before leaning over and plucking the needle out of my wrist and hands.

"Why don't you just let me do that one, too?" I growled at him and tried to snatch the needle back, failing miserably.

I dropped my head onto my arms, ignoring the cuts again, and waited for him to start sewing my leg again. "Fine." I could sense him smirking as his fingers gently poked at the open edges of the cut again, probably trying to decide if he needed to do more than one more layer of stitching. I was suddenly aware of him again in a way I didn't want to be. I resisted the urge to smash my head against the floor like I had earlier. I've reached my injury quota for the day, thank you very much, which caused me to snap at him yet again. "Just line them up, Hiei. My body can heal the rest." As soon as I spoke he yanked the skin together and stitched it. I clenched my teeth, refusing to make more pain noises, as my body tensed. A moment later he was finished, and already pulling my wrist towards him to stitch as well. I rolled so that I was sitting up facing him now as he stitched this one.

I grudgingly thanked him as he snipped this thread too. "Thanks, Hiei," I grumbled as his eyes danced with that twisted humor of his. I suddenly thought of something and smirked too, though. "You need any help with yours?" He glanced at his arm and shrugged before holding it out to me. "Can you pass me another needle? I can't reach the box." It was on the other side of him, and I was still having issues moving.

He did, without any snide comments for once, and I started stitching. He barely flinched as I did first his arm, and then his hand. I grabbed the gauze and bandaged them as well before he could complain. He flexed his arm, testing the stitches, before looking at me like he was slightly surprised that I had known how to do them. I shrugged. "You pick stuff up over time." He shrugged as well before going back to examining my handiwork.

_Thanks_.

I shrugged it off and started to lever myself to my feet. He caught my elbow and helped pull me upright. I doubted that my leg would carry me to the stairs quite yet, though. "If you get me to my room I can deal with the rest of my cuts and stuff."

He'd picked me up and flashed to the top of the stairs before I even knew what was happening, and gently set me down outside of my room. I smiled and laughed as I slid to the ground, removing my arm from his neck. "Do you realize how weird that feels for someone who's never gone that fast?" He shrugged, eyes dancing.

"Fine. Be like that," I said, sticking my tongue out at him. I paused before going into my room. "You don't tell anyone about this, and I don't tell anyone you beat up the prisoner?"

His lips twitched. "How do you plan on hiding all those cuts from the others?"

Right. That was a good question. There are people at school now that actually care if I come in beat up, or don't come in at all.

"You could always help me plead a deathly illness for a couple of days?" I wheedled.

He gave up on suppressing the smile, the edges of his lips curled up. "Only a couple of days?"

"Ya," I said nonchalantly. "By then they should all be gone."

"Fine, why not. It sounds interesting."

"Helping me fool the detectives?" I asked, slightly shocked by his willingness to help.

"Exactly." I laughed again as he flashed a grin that lit up his entire face, even if it was a little malicious.

"Okay. Allies then?" I stuck my hand out.

He eyed it for a second, still amused, before shaking it. "Allies then."

I was smiling as I hobbled into my room finally, moving to shut the door and go find my own first-aid kit.

"Kisu." I looked back over my shoulder at Hiei, who was still standing in my doorway, arms crossed, eyes following my movements. "You keep surprising me." With that he turned and walked back down the flight to his own room, and I found myself grinning from ear to ear, not sure why, as I pushed the door shut behind him.

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Glossary! Quick! Before we must leave! ::dies::

Aisuhana: ice flower

ikieke: bitch

kisama: i think we all know what this means after my issue's with it in previous chapters...

hanyou: half-blood, half-breed


	25. Chapter TwentyFour

Heya! I'm back! Sorry about the lack of updates! I explained it last chapter though...

Grrr.... Back to school we go...

And this chapter was supposed to be longer, it just kind of decided to...end itself early. But don't worry. All the fluff that was planned for tonight will now happen whenever the next chapter comes out!

**Fire:** ::immediatly straps katana to waist and smiles:: Thanks. I'll use it to beat away annoying family members that want to force me away from my pretty computer. ::wink:: And guess what you're getting every chapter from here on out! ::runs over and hugs again:: Ha! ::grins::

**Fate:** ::laughs:: Blood and gore are my friends. Does it make sense that my favorite stories are either bloody or romantic? And yay! Thank you for not hurting me for something I couldn't change.

**Watermellon: **::sniffles:: It's painful, but I've managed to survive. But now I'm back with nothing to distract me but school and play practice. ::denial:: Writing isn't what's distracting! Those are! Gah! ::hides from the school bus::

**Asilin:** Thanks. I'm glad it came out good. I'd been thinking about that scene forever.

**Pen:** ::laughing:: I don't have a life either. And he's also very technologically challenged. I was sitting next to him at the library trying to post the chapter and I had to show him how to italicize something.... ::sweatdrops::

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**Chapter 24**

**Kisu…**

The week passed as it normally does, except for the fact that I didn't go to school for a few days.

I told Hiei that it would only take a few days for everything to heal, and I'll be damned if I let my own body prove me wrong. I was right, almost. All the minor knife wounds disappeared after two days, but the others still haven't finished, or are still sore. I didn't tell Hiei that, though, when I emerged from my room Tuesday morning, after two full days of healing rest, and going on the third.

I told him I was healed and that I was going to school. He smirked, and asked in a tone that was almost approaching warmly amused, how I planned on hiding the gash that was still on the back of my leg when the school skirt displayed it so very clearly.

I grumpily succumbed to spending the day on the couch when he threatened to tell the others if I didn't. I doubt he would ever do something like that, mainly because it would mean being nice, or maybe just nicer, to Yusuke, even if nicer just meant sharing information. But it's never a good idea to push Hiei. You can never tell when he'll let go just to spite you for thinking him predictable.

I think that's the day he tried to ask me why I don't just shift my form so that wounds hold themselves together or are hidden, and I snapped back that doing that takes more concentration than I'm willing to give up for the amount of time I would need to.

We spent a remarkable amount of time just together Tuesday, sometimes just sitting there, me thinking or contemplating various things dreamily while I sprawled on the couch, Hiei sitting on the floor, sword care materials spread out around him, cleaning, sharpening, and oiling his blade and sheath. It's a process that takes a very long time to complete if done correctly and done well, I learned as I watched him sit there and work all day. It could probably be considered somewhat amazing that Hiei and me have essentially lived together for months and have never spent more than half an hour, at the most, alone with each other.

He answered my casual questions about what he was doing for a while before he get fed up with me and reverted back to the usual 'hn.'

I answered his questions for a while as well, until he tried to steer the conversation back to the pills and my past. At that point I shut up and glared at him, arms crossed, stonily refusing to answer.

I think he made me stay downstairs to make sure I didn't sneak out. God only knows where I would sneak off to, or why he would even think for a minute that I actually want to go to school. Even spending an entire day with him is preferable to school, and it didn't even turn out to be as bad as I had thought it would be. He and Kurama are the only ones that don't expect me to try to play nice, though Kurama does draw the line at allowing me to physically harm him, or others, when around him.

Or maybe we should just call it permanently maim… That's what I convinced him to allow when dealing with Yusuke and Kuwabara. I always leave the other girls alone, and it would be the equivalent of suicide to attempt to engage Hiei in public or otherwise.

Kurama, inevitably, happened to stop by after school let out. Yusuke and the others, thankfully, did not. Kurama said they had mumbled something about not wanting to catch the flu, or whatever it was I supposedly had, and then took off down the street.

Right. Kurama showed up and seemed completely unsurprised to find me unsick and lounging. I'd taken this as my cue to bounce up and depart. "Right. I'll see the two of you later." Unfortunately, I momentarily forgot that it's very _bad_ to flex or move a healing muscle a lot, and promptly popped at least three of the stitches. I hoped that Hiei wouldn't say anything, and that Kurama wouldn't notice. Those things never work out, do they…

"Kisuko." I froze at the sound of Kurama's voice, plastering a grin on my face as I turned around.

"Yes."

Kurama's eyes danced. He's been acting rather strange for the past week or so. Maybe I would try asking Hiei about it again later.

"You popped a stitch."

My smile became strained as I tried to slip my sock off before I got any blood on it. "That? I didn't even notice. I'm gonna go deal with it in my room. Bye!" I turned and ran up the stairs, ignoring another couple of stitches popping and the dribble of blood running down my leg.

I heard Kurama laugh behind me and Hiei mumble a couple of words to him. I know that, out of all of the others, Kurama is the one that Hiei is closest too. Would he tell Kurama about the fight when he had essentially promised to tell no one? And would it even matter if Kurama knew? The answer to both of those questions is probably no…

I came up with a plan sometime during the rest of the day while I did the homework Kurama had gotten for me from Yusuke. Joy. He had brought it up to my door and I had snatched it from him, slamming my door in his face as soon as possible. I already spent most of the day being sociable. I have a limit.

I snuck into Hiei's room around ten o'clock, crouched down by his head, and poked him, immediately jumping back to avoid the automatic lunge I knew he would launch into after being touched while sleeping. He woke up rather well, I think. It only took him a few moments to realize it was me, stop attempting to kill me, growl, and demand "What the hell do you want?" I just laughed and laid out my plan, which involved sneaking into Yusuke's house and stealing one of his uniforms, preferably one that was the correct color, and possibly playing a prank on him in the process. Humiliating Yusuke. Hmmm… Let's think. Of course he agreed.

I slouched into school the next day wearing one of the ugly blue suits all the guys at the school have to wear. Some of the less intelligent guys, including Kuwabara, made some 'suggestive' comments, at which point I beat the crap out of them. It was _so_ nice, being able to fight and not worry about flashing someone while wearing that goddamned skirt.

The gash on my leg had been healed enough the night before that I hadn't needed to re-stitch it. I probably wouldn't have even if it needed it, though, because I would have had to ask someone to do it for me. By morning it was healed enough that I could peel the rest of the stitches out, even if it was still scabby and a bit of a mess. I ended up bandaging it so that the fabric in Yusuke's uniform didn't irritate it, or get blood stained.

The thing was still huge, but not as big as it would have been if it was Kuwabara's, and the longer sleeves hid the second gash on my wrist, which I hadn't even thought about.

When I finally got to the school I immediately slid into my seat and tried to go to sleep. I was guessing that the teachers would be slightly more sympathetic than usual because I had been 'sick.'

I was almost there when I heard a wolf-whistle to my left as Yusuke slid into his seat.

"Nice duds, Kisu," he said, smirking. "Where'd you pick those up?"

I lifted my head and flashed one of my best smiles at him, one that was icy and cold. "Your closet, and shut up. I have a head ache." I didn't, but I'm known to be more irritable and prone to hurt things when I do so people don't question its truth.

He held his hands up in a peace gesture. "Whoa. Didn't mean to bug you."

The day was normal, slow, boring. The only excitement was when Yusuke and Kuwabara decided to bug me during Literature and one of them accidentally poked my leg wound. By pure chance it was Yusuke that ended up flying out of his chair and into the wall. I just happened to grab his arm first.

The principal gave me a detention for that and the uniform. They also asked me, very politely, to wear the correct genders ensemble tomorrow. I just sneered at them. The administrators have heard about my flighty nature through the teacher grapevine, and I think it's made them wary of me. That's the best thing I've discovered in weeks.

Just for that I'm wearing this thing again tomorrow, whether I need to or not. I haven't even decided if I'm going to go back to wearing the skirt after this anyways. Probably not. Skirts just aren't me.

---------------------------

My reviewer people! If you have aim or yim will you include your sn in your message thingy? ::mopes:: It gets lonely out here....


	26. Chapter TwentyFive

**Right-o! Here's the next installment. And my only comment is...GRR!! I restarted it three times, changed the planned plot at least four, and it still didn't happen the way I planned. If not for Fate, who had to listen to my constant whining about non-functioning plots, and exclamations over sudden, even if short-lived, plot breakthroughs, and poked me until I went back to writing, this chapter probably wouldn't be here right now... And please thank her for editing. She fixed things so that this chapter was actually coherent and understandable...**

**Random side note. I was bored, and procrastinating, and typing words into a translater site. I suddenly thought, _hey, i wonder if Kisu's name means anything?_ REALIZE THAT THIS WAS COMPLETLY ACCIDENTAL! I created the name Kisu because I liked the way it sounded. Little did I know that it's translation is kiss...**

**Watermellon: Caffiene is good...**

**Ciardra: Thanks. I'm sure Kisu would appreciate your comment too, if she wasn't mad at me at the moment and slumming somewhere..........**

**Asilin: Ha. I didn't think you would. Thanks for the im, too. ::grins::**

**Darkness Shall Set You Free: Welcome to the group, and having two thingamajigs is confusing enough...**

**Fire: Ha ha! Have I ever showed that I care about details before this? ::chapter hug:: Yeppers. Another katana is now needed. ::thoughtful:: We could always 'borrow' Hiei's...**

**Fate: Grr! School annoys me.**

**Pen: Endure the filler we must. It is sad...**

**Jasmine: Don't worry about it. Heh. We almost share the mountains.**

**------------------------------------**

**Chapter 25**

**Kisu…**

Friday has once again rolled around. Joy. I'm so happy, especially considering that it looks like they want to do something _every_ week from now on…

Yusuke opened the door and stormed in just as I was finishing a knife kata and picking up my weapons. I figured I might as well use the open space to train now that Hiei has challenged me. If it's anything like last time he should leave me alone now.

"Hey, what happened to that big spear thing you used to have?" he said as he threw himself at one of the couches.

I glared at Yusuke's clueless face before replying icily. "Nice to see you, too, Yusuke. And it broke."

He laughed. Smart move. I didn't really feel like dealing with any of his bullshit. I think he got that message pretty quickly though, because he stopped laughing as I continued to stare at him.

"Right," he said, still visibly amused, but now quiet. "Don't think we're gonna let you hole up in your room tonight either."

Before I could open my mouth to respond, he opened his, and yelled to everyone else. "Hey, if you can hear, me get your butts out here!" I managed to resist hmpffing in annoyance.

The gang had slowly been drifting into the apartment all day, and every time someone arrived they bugged me, trying to figure out who else was here and what we're doing tonight, despite the fact that I have been trying to train and obviously have no clue.

Keiko and Botan stuck their heads out the kitchen door. "Why? What's going on?" Keiko yelled back at him.

"Nothing yet! Get out here and find out!"

I was vaguely amused as Keiko marched out, demanding an explanation for why he was being so rude.

He grinned. "Well, it got you out here, didn't it?"

Keiko just sighed and didn't respond. Meanwhile the others had drifted into the room. Everyone was there already except for Kazuma and Shizuru, who hadn't arrived yet, and Hiei. I doubt anyone knows where he is, and personally, I don't really care after this week.

And, speak of the devil-or actually, the minions- the door opened and in walked Shizuru and her brother.

Yusuke jumped up laughing. "Hey, just in time!"

Shizuru looked at him like he was insane, which probably wasn't that far off the mark. "For what?"

"Um. Well." He scratched the back of his head. "I was thinking we could go out or something tonight, since we watched movies last week, and I don't feel like staying in."

Keiko crossed her arms. "And what exactly were you thinking, Urameshi?"

"I was thinking clubbing."

"I'm not going to any of your clubs, Yusuke. They're always filthy."

"Wait! I found a new one! It's pretty much clean. No drugs, only alcohol!"

"Right. And that's so much better."

I don't drink anyways, so I didn't care. I couldn't decide if sitting at home or clubbing would be better. I was thinking neither. Locking myself in my room seemed like it would be my preferred choice, but, unfortunately, I doubt they'd let me choose that.

"I don't know. I think it sounds fun." Shizuru stepped forward with a little smile as she gave her opinion.

I resisted the urge to scream at her. Clubbing is bad. There. I've made my decision.

"Ya!" Kuwabara. Good gods. Seeing him dance is one thing that I would prefer to avoid. "That sounds good, Urameshi." He sidled over to his friend, nudging him in the ribs with a sideways glance. "Is it that one over by the liquor shop?"

Yusuke waggled his eyebrows, about to say something, when a door suddenly slammed open upstairs, and a familiar aura zipped down, conveniently stopping right beside me.

He's probably trying to see just how much of his annoyances I can put up with. Or not. Maybe I'm just being paranoid…

"I am not going," he hissed, eyes burning.

_Well, then, smart man, you should have stayed up in your room. No one knew you were there_, I blasted at his mind.

He turned his scowl on me, opening his mouth to yell at me next.

Unfortunately, Kurama stepped between us before we could come to blows.

"I think it's a good idea." We targeted him with matching laser beams. He just tried to look at us sternly, but it's not that effective when his eyes are twinkling in amusement. Wow, that's so intimidating. "You two need to practice your social skills." He didn't have to say the '_again_' out loud. We all knew what he meant.

Ha. And they actually think Hiei and me can learn to be nice. What makes them think we even want to try?

And, apparently, we missed out on some other part of the conversation while we were having our little powwow.

"Come on, Kisu. We're gonna go get ready." Botan grabbed my arm and started dragging me up the stairs.

I snapped back at her. "And where are we getting ready?"

Shizuru came up behind me. "In your room. Keiko says you have better style than what I've seen." Her eyes flicked over me.

Right. She's only seen me in those junky clothes I wore last week, which are now sitting in my bathroom waiting for me to decide if they're savable or not, and now these paint-stained sweatpants and tank top. I was training. What did she expect?

I didn't bother responding, because we were already at my room.

Keiko opened the door as soon as we reached it, asking, "Do you mind if we borrow some clothes?"

The door shut behind us. I was trapped in a room with three crazy teenage girls who were revved up about going clubbing. I don't know when Keiko got excited about this little adventure, since she'd seemed against it, but she was definitely into it now.

I shrugged in defeat. What could I do? It's not like I had much of a choice. "Sure. Ya. Whatever."

The room immediately exploded into a pandemonium as the three of them shrieked in excitement, or in Shizuru's case just laughed, and stormed my closet.

Ye gads, what have I let myself be pulled into this time?

I sipped my drink again as I let my eyes roam over the hoards of people occupying the room before setting it down. The room was dark, pierced by random spears of color, and pounded with a steady techno beat. I'd laughed silently to myself when we had arrived.

The bartender either thought that I'm older than I am, or is trying to buy me, because I'm positive he would give me alcohol if I felt the need to ask for it.

Right. Not gonna happen. I'm perfectly happy with my non-intoxicating spritzer.

I shifted where I stood at the counter. I'm not exactly comfortable in the outfit I'm wearing. It's not that I don't wear this shirt or these pants; it's just that I don't wear them _together_.

Whatever. It's better than some of the other things they were trying to get me to wear. And it definitely turned out to be easier to go along with them than to fight it.

They wanted me to do the dress-up thing with them, where they try on multiple outfits before deciding that, oh, now they want to wear the first thing they tried on.

Nope. No way was I going to do that.

They didn't like any of the outfits I wanted to wear, though. Bully for them. Shizuru finally chose a bunch of outfits and made me choose from those. She actually suggested I wear a skirt and show some leg. Is that me?

Ha. No.

I don't even know why she bothered suggesting it. I chose the gray jeans and cropped red tank. I know I look good in those.

But these jeans could definitely stand being a bit looser.

And then they wanted to do make-up. That too, I tried to fight.

It didn't work.

They helped each other with theirs, Shizuru giving them pointers, and then turned on me _again_.

Botan and Keiko grabbed me and sat me down so that Shizuru could do my face and hair. The only way I would have been able to get out of it would have been to hurt them, and, like I've said, I don't hurt the girls. But that didn't stop me from telling Shizuru that I would kill her if she caked the stuff on. I like a bit of makeup here and there, but more than a little and it's annoying. She just told me to shut up and do the white hair Botan had told her about. At that point I had been so fed up that I didn't argue, hoping it would shut them up and get this over with quicker.

And now, here I am, standing here all alone, in an outfit I don't want to be wearing, with more makeup on than I've ever worn at the same time before, my hair twisted into some strange updo that I wouldn't be able to reproduce even if I wanted to, despite the fact that this is supposed to be a 'social exercise.' Not that I really care. I'm actually rather happy about that little fact. I've barely caught a glimpse of any of them since they all disappeared after we arrived.

Never mind. My blissfully person-free existence has now, once again, come to an end.

At least I can see him coming this time.

It's a little hard to zip around at supersonic speeds when a room is crammed full of ningens.

I ignored him as he came and leaned against the bar next to me.

_I thought you'd be gone by now,_ I thought at him, distractedly.

I caught a glimpse of Keiko dancing with Yusuke before they were enveloped by the mob again.

_Damn kitsune said I couldn't._

_Did you try?_

He glanced at me sideways, definitely irritated.

"Of course you did. What am I thinking?" I mumbled the words out loud, still watching the ebb and flow of the living sea I was trying to avoid.

We both turned as the bartender asked Hiei, "Would you like a drink, sir?"

Hiei was looking away from him before he finished speaking. Guess that was a no, wasn't it.

I hid a smirk as I thought of something. _Ahh…The aisuhana can't hold his liquor._

That earned me the same look as the one he gave me a few minutes ago.

_I didn't say that._

_I know. You didn't say anything._

_Then what gave you that idea_, he shot, mental voice getting hotter.

I didn't say anything, just turned my smirking face so that he could see it.

His eye twitched. "You! Sake!" The tender who had offered me a drink earlier turned around at Hiei's sudden command. The man eyed Hiei suspiciously.

"You don't look old enough to drink, kid. Show me some ID and maybe I'll get it for you."

Hiei scowled at him, hissing, "Just get me the drink. Maybe I'll let you live."

Even this guy wasn't stupid enough not to see that the black-haired midget probably wasn't kidding.

He raised his hands in the universal peace sign, a little pale around the edges. "Sure dude. Didn't mean to offend you." He paused for a second before asking me. "You want something now, too?"

I was about to shake my head no when Hiei sent me another message. _If I drink, you drink_. He smirked at me. _Unless YOU can't handle it._

Great. Now I feel obligated to prove him wrong and beat him into the ground. "I'll have the same." And the words just slipped themselves right out of my mouth. Isn't it amazing?

Hiei picked the shot up as soon as the man had placed them on the counter and downed it without hesitation. I picked mine up, hesitating a moment.

His smirk grew wider. _Scared?_

Well, here's hoping alcohol affects me as much as caffeine. In other words, here's hoping I'm immune to it.

I lifted the shooter to my mouth, shooting _In your dreams_ at Hiei, and downed it, ignoring the fiery path it carved into my gut.

Hiei watched me very carefully as I downed my twelfth, or maybe it was fourteenth, shot. I've lost track. We've be going head to head for a while, and I'm pretty sure he's winning…

I'm definitely starting to feel a little light-headed. Hiei waved at the bartender without looking away from me, signaling that we were ready for another round. Joy.

He again drank his without issue.

I, however, was in the middle of swallowing when a pair of hands descended on my shoulders, causing me to splutter and choke.

I spun, almost toppling over. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!" I stumbled as I slurred my words and bumped into a grinning Yusuke.

"Whoa, Kisu." He caught my elbow just in time to stop me from falling over. "How'd you get so sloshed?"

I shook my head, trying to clear it. "I am not sloshed."

His look very clearly stated that he didn't believe me. "Right. Explain why you just almost fell over then. You never fall over."

Keiko slipped up behind him, touching his arm with a gentle smile, followed by Kurama, who was laughing at something Shizuru had said.

Yusuke leaned over and whispered in Keiko's ear. "I think she had a few to many drinks."

She looked at me questioningly as she whispered back. I think they forget that I can hear much better than they can, even when I'm drunk.

'Cause sweet Kami, I think I am.

Shit.

"I didn't know Kisu drank."

"Neither did I."

I turned my head sideways so that I could only see them out of one eye, but didn't say anything.

_Can I have another, Hiei?_

His answer sounded amused. _Are you sure that's a good idea?_

"You can drink another, so I can drink another," I answered, turning my back on the others and facing Hiei as I hit my chest with a hand defiantly.

_Are you sure about that?_

"Ya. Why wouldn't I be? I'm just as good as you are."

_Is that so._

I heard Kurama say something to Yusuke behind us. "Is she talking to Hiei?"

Yusuke's answer was an indistinct mumble of, "Don't know, don't care, but it's freaking me out."

"Yes. It _is_ so. I know everything you do."

His lips twitched. _Then why do I keep winning_?

I paused, tapping my chin with a finger as I thought, my other arm crossed across my stomach. "Because I haven't had to use it in years?"

_You don't sound very sure about that, hanyou. Why haven't you used those skills in so long? I'd expect someone like you to keep their training up._

I was opening my mouth to answer again when a pair of hands descended on my shoulders. Again. I spun to yell at this new invader, but the shouts died in my throat when I found that it was Kurama.

"You look a little out of it, Kisu."

I managed to nod dumbly. Kurama is just one of those people that it's hard to yell at.

"Why don't you go home?"

"Home?"

"Hiei's."

I blinked. "I can leave?"  
"Yes."

It took me awhile, but I finally got it. "Yes! I'm leaving then! Bye!" I started to dash past him.

"I didn't say you could go alone."

I turned back, frozen mid-step, to find Kurama's eyes crinkled in amusement.

"You didn't?" I asked dumbly.

"Nope."

I tried to figure out what that could mean. Yep. My brain is definitely intoxicated.

"Hiei's going with you."

"Who said I wanted to go anywhere with that baka?" I responded.

"And why is it me," was Hiei's hissed response.

Kuwabara suddenly stepped up behind the koorime and tapped him on the shoulder. "Because you didn't want to be here to begin with, shorty."

I couldn't help but laugh as the redhead suddenly flew over Hiei's shoulder, causing the bartender to pause in his administrations to tell us that he didn't allow brawls in his club. Wow. I didn't know he was the owner…

I crouched down and poked the boy in the head. "I think you might have deserved that one, Kuwa."

He sat up rubbing his head, glaring over his shoulder at Hiei. "Maybe, but that doesn't make it feel any better."

I laughed. "At least he didn't make you fight him."

Kuwabara shuddered. "Ya. Why? Has he made you?"

I was about to answer when Hiei grabbed my arm and started yanking me towards the door. "Fine. Let's go."

"Hey," I whined. "But I don't want to go."

He glared at me, jaw muscles clenched. "You just said you wanted to leave, half-blood. Come now or I'll leave you here," he growled, yanking me towards his face to do so.

I grinned in his face, completely light-heartedly, and darted my head in to give him a quick kiss on the nose.

If I was sober I would be banging my head on the fridge right now, but I'm not, and Hiei is so going to kill me as soon as we're somewhere he can hide the body.

I heard someone mutter something as Hiei dragged me out of the club, causing everyone to laugh in agreement. I think it was Kuwabara.

"I think I like her better when she's drunk…"

I took a deep breath of the fresh air outside, while I stood in the middle of the street, ignoring the fact that that's where cars drive.

Hiei was leaning against a telephone pole somewhere across the street, waiting for me to smarten up again.

I've never noticed how free drinking can make you feel, probably because I don't drink very often.

I'm not worried. I'm relaxed. And even now I don't doubt that I'll regret it in the morning.

The air is so crisp and cold. I may not like the cold, but I love its smell, and it's definitely almost Winter. Right now I'm actually excited about it. By tomorrow I won't care.

_Are you ready to go yet?_

I closed my eyes and spun, reveling in the clean air. "No!"

I could hear his 'Hn' all the way over here.

"Can we go somewhere else? I don't want to go back."

I stopped, arms out to my sides, and opened my eyes to watch him.

His face was shadowed, hidden, while the rest of him was illuminated by the streetlight. "You look spooky like that."

He shrugged by way of answer.

I don't want to go back to the apartment. As soon as we go back to the apartment everything will go back to normal. I don't care if the only reason I feel so good is because the alcohol is messing with my brain. I don't want it to end yet. I don't want to go back to the constant worrying and stress and restraints I put myself through.

I was suddenly very aware of the cold; my euphoria dropping a couple of notches as I contemplated what it would be like when it was gone.

"What are the restraints you impose on yourself?" I didn't even notice that he could only have known to ask that question, with that wording, if he had dug through my head.

I hugged my arms around me to protect myself from the cold as my mood dropped another couple of notches, as I shook my head, trying to banish the memories that had just sprung up uninvited.

"I'm not the one that imposed them." I finally squeezed the words out, and looked up at Hiei, feeling more lost than I have in years. I'll blame it on the drink.

Hiei appeared impassive, and unmoved. "Who placed them on you?"

I shrugged, beginning to shiver.

I may be drunk, and my tongue will probably wag a bit before the night is done, but I'm going to try to keep my teeth shut around that bit of information. I struggled to pull my failing shields back up.

I doubt I did very well, but I don't think Hiei dug again once he felt me fumbling with them.

"Then what are they?" I think he realized I wasn't going to answer that question.

To speak or not to speak? I closed my eyes.

And they shot open again when I suddenly felt Hiei's coat settling around my shoulders, taking the edge off of the cold. I hadn't even noticed him wearing a coat.

"Come on. We'll go to the park."

"The park?" I repeated dumbly, looking up at him as he started pushing me in the right direction.

"Yes. The park. You didn't want to go back, correct?"

I nodded, still cold.

"I didn't know there was a park."

He didn't answer, but kept walking. I didn't have much choice but to follow him.

I kept stumbling more and more the longer we sludged along, until I ended up leaning on Hiei for support, half asleep and woozy. I'm kind of surprised that he didn't push me away and make me stagger on my own.

The walk was worth it, though, when we finally got there. No doubt he could have been there in moments if I hadn't been with him.

It wasn't big, but for what it was, it was pretty. The little pond in the middle was reflecting the moon, and some pretty, but simple flowers surrounded it. Around the flowers, there were a few old oak trees.

I pushed away from Hiei, letting his coat slip to the ground as I tottered to the pond's edge.

Sinking down against the trunk of one I looked up at Hiei, laughing again. "It's so quiet."

He leaned against the tree, looking down at me. "It's the middle of the night. Ningens don't come out after dark."

I shrugged, watching the moon's image as it wavered with the water's ripples.

"You know that you'll have a headache tomorrow?"

I nodded, not looking at him, when a thought suddenly popped into my head.

"Hey, you drank just as much as me. Why aren't you drunk too?" I glanced up at him. His face was surprisingly peaceful, softer; some of the hard lines I hadn't even realized were there smoothed away by the moonlight.

"I've lived a while. I've had stronger stuff than that." His eyes were fixed on the lake, thoughtful, more open than usual, probably because he didn't expect me to be watching.

And then his head turned, sharply, suddenly, catching my eyes with his. "Why do you take those pills?" His eyes were hypnotic like that, shielded, but not, reflecting the moon's silver beams.

My mouth even started to open itself to let the answer spill. But it's not something I want all of them to know, even if Hiei wouldn't tell. I snapped my mouth shut, turning my head back to the lake. I may not be completely with it, but I think I have just enough self-control to prevent myself from doing the obviously stupid things.

"That's my past." I hugged my knees to my chest. I know its weakness. I don't care right now. Maybe drunk isn't as good a place to be as I thought it was, just earlier tonight. You relax, but you can't even shield yourself from your most basic emotions. I don't like emotions. I prefer to squash and bury them. "You don't need to know about my past."

Hiei didn't say anything. I didn't look at him. I guess I'm a little more somber now than I was before. I just tried to soak up some of the peace in this unexpected haven and save it for the times to come that I knew I would need it for.

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	27. Chapter TwentySix

::laughs:: My half day today got canceled and turned into a snow day. It was fun. Um... I fixed some minor details in Chapter TwentyFive, like, mis-spellings...

**Sillylittlenothing:** Don't worry about long reviews. I like reading the responsed I get, and those are the best. The whole point of the last chapter was that Hiei wants to know, but Kisu doensn't want to talk, and he respects her enough to let her keep her privacy once she has made that clear. None of them are actively, conscoisly, scheming against her. They're just being their usual, inquisitive selves. Except Hiei. Hiei's just being more interested and confused by something than he normally is.

**Jasmine**: ::grins:: Unfortunatly we all know that Hiei would never do anything to impede his senses...

**Darkness Shall Set You Free: **Grrr... Yes... I should be working on my projects for those....

**Kamikaze: **When have I not updated...?

**Asilin:** Same. I'm almost positive that I'll never touch the stuff, but it's fun to fantasize about others.... ::drifts off torwards Hiei:: ::returns with a black-eye:: Wow... that really worked....

**Fire:** Mwhahaha! Hiei does not have his katana! Maybe that's why I'm still alive....

**Pen: **But....but... that would be so un-Kisu like! The nose thing was stretching it!

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**Chapter 26**

**Kisu…**

Friday! Friday is supposed to be a good day. I think I'm beginning to despise it…

And just because I said that movies are pointless and a waste of time, and that I want nothing to do with them is not a reason for Yusuke and Kuwabara to grab me and try to force me to sit between them on the couch.

And Kurama did not have to laugh and smile, saying that I deserved it, as they half dragged, half carried me out of the kitchen.

"At least let me get my blood, you idiots!" I yelled as I tried to get my feet on the ground again.

"Hey, Kurama. Get Kisu a drink, will ya?"

Yusuke smirked as Kuwabara tacked on his own little comment. "Just make sure it's not alcoholic. We don't want any repeats of last week." His eyes suggested otherwise.

Right. He is so gonna die. If I had known that alcohol affects me that severely last week, I never would have drank it. I would have passed on Hiei's challenge and told him to shove it.

Okay. Maybe I still would have ended up drunk…

Kuwabara's an idiot. I flailed harder, snarling at him, and sunk my teeth into his arm as soon as it came into range.

He yelped, leaping away from me and dropping my shoulder's as he tried to tear his arm away from me.

I doubt Kuwabara tastes very good anyways, so I released my hold.

Just in time to land square on my back with a painful thump, knocking the air out of me momentarily. It's hard to take a fall right when someone is holding your feet above your head.

"Let go of my legs, Yusuke." The punk was still standing there, hands wrapped around my ankles. I think he was trying to decide whether to laugh or run.

His face split into a grin and he yanked on one of my legs. I tried to kick him, or stand up, or something…

His grin grew wider. "Why should I? You can't make me."

I snarled at him as he pulled on my leg harder, and I tried to sit up and grab at him as Kuwabara continued to whine piteously.

"Stop it, you fool. I didn't bite you that hard," I muttered at him, still trying to maneuver out of this odd position. He'll get over it soon enough, as soon as the next stupid idea pops into his head and he forgets about the non-existent pain.

Yusuke suddenly yanked on my leg extra hard, releasing the other leg as I tried to kick him in the face again, so that I was dangling upside down, head suspended just above his knees.

Him using his extra height to humiliate me was not something I was enjoying. Suffer he will.

"I suggest you drop me now," I growled, voice a full octave lower than normal. "If you don't, I promise that I will hurt you."

He started swinging me back and forth slowly, grin still plastered across his face. "You never really hurt us. I'm not worried." I could feel my eyes begin to burn with my anger, or maybe it was just all of the blood rushing to my head…

Again, he seemed unaffected by my obvious anger. Why am I surrounded by such dense people?

He froze, stopping his swinging, eyes dilating slightly. I could hear a deep voice on the other side of his body.

"I suggest you listen to her, detective. I doubt she was doing more than toying with you before." I froze as well as a katana became clear on either side of Yusuke, pressed against his back, it's owner still hidden by the human's bulk. I think I can guess who it belongs to, though…

I can guarantee I won't even need the three tries.

"Drop her." Stubbornness played across his face before he listened to his smarter side. It amazes me how dull that side can be.

"Sure, Hiei." The smile that had faded flickered to life again. "I'll drop her."

I realized what he meant to do a moment before he did it. "Yusuke! If you…!"

I was cut off as he released my foot and I landed on my head. My neck crunched painfully as I crumbled to the floor.

I remained in my heap for a moment, and then slowly and carefully unfolded myself from the floor. I could still move. That's good…

I turned, standing just as carefully, making sure I wasn't going to kill myself with some random broken bone, to find Hiei pinning Yusuke to a wall. I shrugged my shoulders, cracking my neck, as anger again bubbled up inside me.

I suppose Hiei thinks that he's helping me, by fighting one of my battles. Maybe he thinks I'll appreciate him interceding on my behalf. If that's what he thinks then he, most definitely, does not know me well.

"Hiei, release Yusuke right now," I growled, voice low again. The kajihenge slowly turned his head to look at me, eyes empty. "Let. Him. Go."

Yusuke laughed, a little strained albeit, over Hiei's head, smile a little hesitant, as the demon snapped his head back to fix his gaze on him.

"Hey, don't worry, Kisu. I can deal with him." He tried to chuckle, as Hiei shoved his katana further against his throat. If I hadn't been preoccupied checking if my neck was broken or not, maybe I would have seen how Hiei actually managed to get Yusuke pinned. It would have been interesting to see…

He probably used a combination of his speed and demon strength… I should have known that… I shouldn't even have to think about that… I doubt that any of these other idiots, except possibly Kurama, is anywhere equal to Hiei in combat skills.

"Nice to see you care, though." I shifted my gaze from the back of that black-haired head to Yusuke's face. I could feel my eyes burning. I knew they looked as hot as they felt when doubt incidentally flickered through Yusuke's eyes.

I wanted to explode. I wanted to hit that little prick, for thinking he could get in my way, for thinking I needed saving.

"That's not what this is about," I managed through clenched teeth.

But…why not? Why can't I hit him? That's a really good question.

A malicious grin spread across my face the instant before I lunged at him.

I think he was surprised as I was when his sword went flying, and we fell to the floor, rolling and grappling with each other.

And why shouldn't we be? I've been very careful to avoid confrontations, not just with him, but with all of them, except for when they're non-consequential ones, usually involving Kuwabara or Yusuke or the pair of them.

But I've been the most careful about avoiding them with him, be they physical or verbal, and most definitely in public, when I can. If I think I have a chance of coming out on top with the others I go for it. Hiei, him I just leave alone.

With him I'm always guarded, prepared to fend off barbs and kill a problem before it begins.

He always seems to get the best of me, though. He always manages to get me riled up when I don't want to be. He always manages to make me forget that I'm trying to avoid becoming involved with them. He always makes me forget for a moment, at just the right moment, and just long enough, to put myself in situations, or leave myself open to situations, that I would rather avoid. I can't seem to help but want to prove to him that I can beat him, that I'm just as capable as him or any of the others. And that's not something that I should want…

I let out a shout of triumph as I felt my hands close around his neck and finally managed to stop our pointless scrabbling, managing to pin him for once.

But my euphoria over besting him disappeared as soon as I remembered why we had been fighting in the first place, and my anger flared back up to replace it.

I leaned down to his face to hiss my words, hands squeezing the air from his throat, as his eyes remained gallingly blank.

"I do not want you interfering in with my business." His eyes remained the same and he remained silent, refusing to answer. "Why, you bastard?" I leaned into his throat harder, applying more pressure to his windpipe, in what I know, from experience, is a very painful angle. He just tilted his head, allowing me a more effective choke. I took advantage of it, pressing yet harder. "Why do you keep bothering me?" His expression didn't change. I leaned down further, closer to him, closer to his face, meeting his flat eyes with my own blazing ones. "Why did you interfere?"

Why does he have to keep proving to me that I'm not as strong as I used to be? Why does he make me realize how much I've forgotten how to do, how much I can't do? Why does he keep asking questions, pushing at my boundaries, forcing me to think about things I don't want to think about? I said it one more time, flame of anger flickering at his lack of response, voice barely more than a whisper. "Why, Hiei, why?"

He was the only one that could see my face, hidden behind my curtain of hair. I was the only one that could see his, for the same reason.

He was the only one that saw the momentary flicker of doubt in my eyes as I suddenly questioned the intelligence of this whole little maneuver.

I was the only one that saw the flicker of a smile, the swift flash of warmth in his eyes, as he laughed at my confusion.

And I was the only one that could hear the words he whispered in my head.

_Because, Kisu. We're allies, and that's what allies do._

I didn't have time to contemplate what he meant, or respond, or react in any way, because two pairs of arms suddenly slipped through mine, disentangling mine from the koorime's neck, and hauled me to my feet and over to a couch. "Don't want to kill the hero, now, do we, Kisu?" Yusuke stated cheerfully.

"Hiei's a hero? That's a really weird concept," Kuwabara added, a little randomly.

It was enough of a struggle to pull my indifferent mask back on and hide my openly displayed surprise and astonishment before Yusuke and Kuwabara released me, after setting me in the middle of one of the seats, and stepped back to look at me.

They stood over me with smug expressions. I did my best to look indifferent to them, leaning back and crossing my arms. "What now?" I grumbled. I think I managed to sound like my usual, unresponsive self.

They didn't say anything, just smirked and stuck a bottle of blood in the crook of each of my elbows, swinging down to sprawl on the cushions next to me just as I started to shoot back up in surprise.

Yusuke grabbed my shoulder and pulled me back down. I managed to catch both of the bottles before they fell to the ground and smashed, and ended up staring at them as I sat straight backed between them. I finally looked up at him, dumbfounded, and my feelings probably displayed on my face.

"Why?"

His face turned back to me from watching Keiko walk across the room, eyes soft and dreaming, but already changing to his cocky grin, preparing to answer me with a joke.

His expression softened again, though, when he saw my face.

Kuwabara answered first. "Peace offerings. Figured you might not kill us if we gave you something to eat instead."

I looked back and forth between the two boys and the blood for a few minutes, Yusuke watching me, before he finally opened his mouth to say something. "It's what friends do, Kisu. They make jokes. They fight. And then they forgive each other."

I tried to come back with one of my snappy retorts, but couldn't find the words. All I could notice was Yusuke still watching me, and Kurama grabbing Hiei's elbow before he could slip off the stairs and steering him back to a seat. Are allies and friends the same thing? When had they started considering me a friend and not a job obligation? I had thought the ally thing a joke. I didn't know Hiei would take it seriously. I still don't know if he takes it seriously. Maybe that was his version of some kind of perverted joke?

I didn't know that any of them respected me for any reason other than the fact that I hit hard when I get annoyed.

Keiko bounced down next to Yusuke, snuggling up with him, and passing a bowl of popcorn in front of me to Kuwabara, as Botan asked what movie we all wanted to watch.

Yusuke's face immediately lit up. "I vote 'It's a Wonderful Life. Haven't seen that movie in years."

I leaned back against the couch, again attempting something close to normality for me. "Lame," I grumbled.

He turned the full force of his grin on me, and replied with something akin to mock hurt, "Ah. Come on, Kisu. That movie's got emotional value to me, now that I've kicked the bucket and all. Besides." His eyes danced. "It's a week 'till Christmas. We need to start getting in the spirit."

The rest of them quickly agreed, Hiei and me being the only ones that didn't vote.

I tried to relax and enjoy it as Botan flipped the lights out and bounced over to her own spot.

I tried not to think about what Hiei, and then Yusuke, had said.

And, of course, because of that, I failed miserably.

The movie didn't help either.

But it wasn't bad. It just pointed out all the things I already know I've deprived myself of…

Everything and everyone seems to be doing that lately…


	28. Chapter TwentySeven

Here's the scoop. Prep week for exams. Exam week. First week of the new semester. Tech week for the play. Guess what this weekend is. The Musical! Guess what I get to do. Sit in the back room for an hour and a half after my two scenes! However, my life should soon be returning to it's slightly less hectic pace, where sleep, writing, and reading fanfic are allowed and enjoyed. I had to bane myself from the computer for a couple weeks, knowing that major term projects wouldn't get done if I didn't.

Please don't inflict too much damage. It makes it difficult to write, especially when I"ve just gotten over a nasty case of writer's block. And a very, very, very belated birthday to Jasmine Reiner! Three weeks to be exact...

Review responses are at the end... I'm answering because I'm incapable of not... despite the fact that all I want to do is fall over and sleep... So take them as the peace offering they are meant to be!

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**Chapter 27 **

**Kurama…**

He stirred, hearing scratching and scuffing, and then the beep of the microwave, in the kitchen.Kurama carefully untangled himself from the blanket on the couch, moving quietly to avoid waking the others. He immediately noticed that both Hiei's and Kisu's forms were missing from among the sleeping bodies strewn around the room.

He didn't doubt that Hiei would have slipped off to his room as soon as possible, but he was slightly worried about Kisu…

He didn't know what was off with her, but she'd seemed somewhat out of it for the past week.

He suspected it had something to do with Hiei, especially after he had caught sight of her face right after Yusuke and Kuwabara pulled her off of Hiei. She had seemed completely shocked, but not by them.

Whatever Hiei said must have been telepathic though, because he would have heard it otherwise.

He paused in the kitchen doorway, only slightly surprised to find Kisu there, just sitting down at the table, a steaming mug in her hand. She shot back up out of the chair when she sensed him, face wary and liquid splashing over her hand, but relaxed almost immediately when she saw it was just him, even if only fractionally. "Just you," she mumbled, slowly lowering herself into the seat, wincing slightly.

He grabbed a dishrag and tossed it to her as he crossed the room. "Is your back okay?"

She looked up from her drink just in time to catch the rag, as though she had already forgotten he was there. "Yeah, why?" Her face gave away the fact that she really didn't know what he was asking.

"Your back, Kisu," Kurama said.

She shrugged, not looking at him. "Yeah. It's fine. A little sore, but not as bad as I've had, and nothing that some blood shouldn't fix." She held up the now spill free mug. "I'm on my second bottle."

She tried to jolt to her feet again as Kurama moved behind her, placing his hands on her shoulders, but didn't resist as he pushed her back down, fingers beginning to work at the knot between her shoulder blades. "Would you move your hair out of the way?"

She nodded wordlessly as the breath rattled out of her lungs at the mixed sensation of pain and pleasure, her muscles relaxing despite herself. Her hair immediately began to shift from its still curly black mass to a short, straight, white cut that ended just above her neck. The bangs lengthened, hiding her eyes, as she leaned her head forward.

His fingers moved up and down her back, pushing against the bones in her spine and digging into the muscles; he continued until the last of the tension had slipped out of her. Then he laid a palm flat against the middle of her back and yanked sharply on her shoulder, causing something to pop loudly.

She jerked straight in her chair, letting out a little puff of air as he moved to the other side of the table and pulled out a chair. "Thanks…" she said softly, and a little tensely. "That was…really interesting…" He stopped his lips from twitching up into a smile. Otherwise he would have missed her next comment, which was completely uncharacteristic of her. "But in a good way," she added quickly, appearing suddenly worried about how he would take her comment, something that she generally didn't give a damn about.

He nodded, letting an enigmatic smile slip across his lips. "Don't worry about it, Kisu. Relax." What had her so worried, that made her so self-conscious? Doubt flickered in her eyes for a moment before her face blanked again. What was causing her to be this uncomfortable?

He didn't think she would talk to him if he tried to ask, though. He wasn't even sure she would talk to him if he remained quiet. That seemed like the most likely plan, though. She was nervous enough already that the silence might get to her for once.

Her only reaction for a few minutes was when he reached to flip on the light. "No!" she shouted, followed by a quieter, "It hurts my eyes."

After that she went back to staring at her mug, taking a sip out of it every couple of minutes.

"Are you…" She paused, clearing her throat, the words proving difficult to form. She stared at the mug again. "Are you my friends?" The words poured out of her mouth in a hurried stream, and he knew it was costing her something to voice the thought. Her fingers flitted over the table top, making it clearer that she meant the group in general, and her eyes studied the grains of the wooden table industriously, refusing to meet his as she waited for his answer.

He weighed possible answers carefully, trying to find the perfect one. But he gave up on it as she glanced up briefly, her pain and relief poorly hidden, thinking she had her answer in his silence. He leaned forward, catching her hand and eyes in one fluid motion, and let the first answer that he thought of pour out his mouth, not bothering to weigh the words, knowing that he would lose the moment if he hesitated any longer. "We would all like to be." He noticed the relief in her eyes disappear, to be replaced by panic, but forged on, wondering only briefly why she had been relieved by the idea of a negative response to begin with. "The others will consider themselves your friends whether you agree or not, in much the same way they consider themselves Hiei's friends. They'll give you what they can, and expect nothing from you but what you give them already, because that's what friendship is."

"But I'm a criminal. You arrested me. I'm not supposed to be a friend. I can't be a friend." He ignored her frantic eyes, and the white-knuckled hands that clung to the table edge.

"That's only true if you make it true. It's up to you whether you can be a friend or not. It goes both ways. And we all realized a long time ago that you're not the criminal we originally thought you to be. Even Koenma agrees."

"No!" She shot out of her chair yet again, slamming her fists into the table. "You don't understand! I _can't_! It's not a case of whether I want to or not. It's not my choice. Even if I wanted to…" her voice cracked slightly. "…I couldn't."

He leaned back in his chair again, watching her as she began to pace. "Why?"

She glanced at him, not noticing as Hiei appeared in the doorway, shaking her head. She finally stopped, fixing her gaze on a point halfway up the cabinets. "You guys don't know anything about me, do you?"

"No," Kurama said. "Koenma has looked, but all of his leads have met dead ends."

"Hiei asked me some questions last week, and I wouldn't tell him." Her fists clenched at her sides.

Kurama saw Hiei's face grow wary at the mention of his name, but ignored him, merely sending him a look saying that he better not mess this up, instead continuing to focus on Kisu. "Do you wish you had?"

"Almost," she said, as though she wasn't sure it was true, as if she didn't know if it was the right thing to say. "I thought the allies thing was a joke, that neither of us was really taking it seriously." She finally looked at him, wanting him to understand. He nodded as though he did, willing to fill in the blanks as they went if it kept her talking. She shook her head at herself, trying to push something away. "But now I'm not sure what he thinks. And I don't know what I think. I don't even know what I _want_ either of us to think."

She sighed, returning to the chair again, still oblivious to Hiei's presence. When she was at the top of her game she would have sensed his arrival immediately. "He asked me what my pills do, and I wouldn't tell him. Do you even know about my pills?" She looked at him suddenly, eyes piercing.

The kitsune nodded. He did. He had spotted them on her desk a couple of times, and seen her taking them when she thought no one was watching.

"Shit," she muttered. "I didn't think anyone knew. Him knowing was an accident." He waited for her to elaborate, but she didn't.

"What do they do, Kisu? What makes them so important that you have to hide them from us?"

She shot him another look. She wouldn't look at him long enough for him to do anything more but read the surface emotions in her eyes. Then she would look away again. That he could even read that much from them, that wasn't anger, was more than he usually could.

He almost thought she would refuse to answer, but then her shoulders drooped and her mouth opened. "They're tied into my past. That's why I wouldn't tell him. It's the same reason I can't be a friend." She looked bone-tired as her eyes slid shut and she rested her head on her hands. Her voice carried the sense of an old wound, one that wouldn't go away.

"I'm not asking about your past, Kisu," Kurama said, leaning towards her again so that she could see the sincerity in his eyes. "I'm just asking what they do, if that's all you want to share. If you are willing to share more I'd be more than ready to listen, and none of it would go farther than this room if that was what you wanted."

She didn't even bother looking up at him. "I don't know why any of you even care about my past. It has nothing to do with you."

Hiei started to open his mouth. Kurama shot him a look to stop it. "In Hiei's case I think it may be the belief that you know everything about us." Hiei scowled at the fox, but leaned back against the doorframe. Kisu would most likely stop talking as soon as she realized Hiei was here, and he wanted her to have the chance if she wanted it. He was curious, of course. They all were, and had been for months. But his was about making sure she was okay.

"Hiei thinks I know his past?" She was honestly surprised. It would have been amusing if the crazed look hadn't remained there as well.

Hiei's eyes narrowed. Kurama was barely able to contain his chuckle at the irony of the situation.

Kisu's jaw was hanging limp, eyes slightly wide, but quickly reverted to her catch-all anger. "He thinks I know his past!" The anger was weak, but it was still there. Hiei's eyes narrowed as Kurama nodded. "I barely know anything about anyone or anything in Makai! I haven't been home, if you could call it that, since…" She jumped up again and resumed her pacing, sentence hanging unfinished. "Before I moved to this town I lived off of whatever rumors I could get from the suppliers." She turned to Kurama, throwing her arms into the air. "How does he expect me to know anything but the bare minimum!"

"I didn't." Her back stiffened at the sound of the other demon's voice, all color draining from her face. She jabbed a finger at Hiei, who was now walking into the room instead of just standing in the doorway.

"How long has he been here?" she squeaked.

Hiei kept talking, ignoring her discomfort. Kurama remained silent. "I expected you to know the outline. I knew you had at least heard of me by your reaction the day we arrested you."

She spun to face him, voice and face tinted with her quick-to-rise temper. "Who hasn't! For Christ's sake, you're the Jaganshi! I heard about you _before_ they killed my mother!"

Kurama held his breath as Hiei froze, eyes narrowing further. "Before who killed your mother?" He advanced on her again, and both males saw her anger waver.

Her eyes flickered, and they caught sight of pain and despair before the mask clicked back into place. Her face remained angry, but the lines of her body showed exhaustion.

"Sit down, Kisu."

Her anger sprang back. "Why should I, Hiei?" Her jaw jutted out. "And why should I tell you anything? It doesn't apply to you, and it never will."

Hiei smirked, and Kurama almost told him to stop, afraid that he might be trying to break her. She was usually strong, but by how she had reacted to just his questions, he couldn't tell how well she would hold up against even Hiei's normal pokes and prods.

"Because allies share important information, and I think who killed your mother is important information."

Kisu and Kurama froze. The breath caught in her throat. That wasn't an answer either had expected. Kurama, even after knowing Hiei for as long as he had, hadn't even considered it a possibility.

"Because… allies…?" her voice wavered, and she blinked confusedly.

"Yes. Allies." Hiei grabbed her elbow and steered her back to the chair, shoving her down into it.

She looked up at Hiei, all her fight gone again. "You weren't supposed to hear about that," she said forlornly, before suspicion filled her eyes. "How do I know you aren't just playing off of that now?"

"I heard it. Get over it," he growled. "And how many times have I said it now? How often do I say things that aren't true… repeatedly?" He turned away from her, giving her a moment to compose herself if she wanted it. "Did she say anything interesting before I got here, Kurama?"

Kurama shrugged again as Kisu looked between the two men, finally just dropping her head to the table with a groan. "Fine, whatever." Her voice was barely audible. "Ask. It's not like I can hide from you anyway, Hiei."

His eyes flickered, the disgust thinly masked. "I don't sift through your thoughts like you think I do, hanyou. I only do that when you refuse to answer simple questions repeatedly."

The form slumped at the table sighed, shoulders shrugging minuscully. "Okay. So you don't." She lifted her head. "But just ask already, will you?"

Kurama sat, and Hiei just looked at her levelly, but not with his usual level of disdain. Kurama suddenly wondered why Hiei _was_ interested in Kisu. It was true that the koorime wasn't as empty as the other detectives sometimes thought him, but cornering and pushing at someone like he was now was still more interest than he had ever seen him show.

He snapped out of his thoughts as Kisu again jumped up, stalking across the room before spinning and facing them again. "Look! I don't care what you ask at this point, because you're going to no matter how I feel. But at least don't drag it out! And stop staring at me! The both of you!" she practically shouted.

Hiei blinked slowly, surprise subtly shading his features in response to the sudden outburst.

Maybe he didn't realize he was pushing at her so hard. _Ask her something, Hiei, or let her leave. You've toyed with her enough for the night_, he thought, in an attempt to save Kisu from anymore unintentional Hiei prodding. It would either work, and Hiei would realize it and stop, or backfire, just causing him to do it more.

The look of surprise deepened slightly before Hiei blinked and it all disappeared. The knot of worry in Kurama's stomach eased slightly as Hiei nodded slightly, not looking at him.

Now they just had to calm Kisu down. "Kisu," Kurama said, trying to make his voice extra soothing.

Her face twisted in a snarl. She struggled to get it back under control, closing her eyes briefly before stalking back to her chair.

"You can relax. We won't push if you really don't want to talk about something."

She thankfully retorted, glaring at him, before Hiei could voice his own opinion on the matter. "We both know he won't stop until he gets answers, so drop the act, Kurama. Ask a question. Maybe I'll answer."

"You _will_ answer," Hiei growled.

So much for him not pushing her.

"Fine," she snapped, eyes flashing. "I will. But ask!"

Kisu's and Hiei's eyes remained locked in a battle of wills, each refusing to be the first to look away.

"Who killed your mother?" Kurama repeated the question from earlier, just to break the stiff and prolonged silence. Hiei shot him a look of disgust, at having his game interrupted, and Kisu glanced at him quickly before looking away from the both of them again.

"And don't say that it's none of our business," Hiei added

She looked back at him, slightly peeved, but obviously trying to make the best of the situation, or at least not break down. "I wasn't gonna." She paused, steeling herself for whatever she was going to say. "Our tribe killed her when I was eight. That was right before I moved in with my father. It's one of many reasons I'm not close to him."

"Why did they kill her?" A deeper pain than the one they had glimpsed earlier emerged on her face, one that she didn't seem to notice or try to hide.

She opened her mouth to answer, but Hiei's voice snapped the both of them out of the play of her emotions. "She was right. This has nothing to do with what I wanted to know."

Kurama stared at him, but Kisu beat him to the punch. "You were just asking about it!" she snapped. "And besides, if you make me relive the memories for a week the least you can do is listen to them when you finally get up the nerve to ask what they are."

Tears started to fill up her eyes. She swiped at them in an attempt to obliterate them. "Damn it, Hiei! Look what you did!"

Hiei looked stunned. Kisu didn't notice, preoccupied with trying to hide her raging feelings, but Kurama did. It was the second time within half an hour that he had seen the demon surprised, more than he usually did for months at a time.

"Fine, onna. I'll listen," he said after a moment's silence, voice gruff. He slipped into the chair between Kurama and Kisu finally, instead of standing imposingly between the two. "Talk."

She glanced at him angrily, still scrubbing her eyes, but seemed to whither when she realized he wasn't looking at her. She nodded to them, and opened her mouth. Hiei's face tightened as soon as he heard the pain in her voice.

"Why don't I just start at the beginning…" She paused, waiting for interruptions. She continued when neither of them said anything. She cleared her throat, eyes going distant as she looked down at the table. "My mother left the Makai a long time ago. I don't know why, but she left the tribe and came to Ningenkai." She glanced up from the table, face drawn. "She met my father here. She knew right away that he was demon, but she didn't know that _he_ didn't know. She had fallen in love with him before she realized that his ignorant act really wasn't an act. And then she got pregnant…" She trailed off.

"With you?" Kurama asked, voice soft.

Kisu nodded. "I was born in Makai. I never saw Ningenkai before they killed her. And now I've seen more of it than I care about."

"Your story," Hiei growled.

Her eyes flickered towards him. "Yeah. Sorry." She stopped completely for a minute, and the boys watched her, waiting for her to start again. "My father dumped her as soon as he found out." Anger and pain sparked in her eyes. "So my mother ran back to Makai, crying over him." She looked up suddenly, meeting first Kurama's and then Hiei's eyes. She held Hiei's, probably because she had looked at him second, not because she thought he would understand better. Her voice became more self-assured. "In the Blood Tribes you have to be strong. They kill for weaknesses. They despised my mother because she let herself be hurt by a human, especially one as ignorant of himself and powerless as him. They despised me because I wasn't pureblooded. That's what I grew up with. It's what I lived with for years." She stopped again, and then stood up, nervous energy making her pace again.

"I learned how to defend myself, but not before I learned how to tolerate pain." Her breath caught in her throat, and she pinned them with frantic eyes again. "It's hard to get past it." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "I've never let anyone get as close to me as any of you are before, even accidentally. And it's scaring the shit out of me." She spun and crossed to the other side of the kitchen, leaning against the counter, back to them. "Every time I realize what I've let happen I can't help but remember the lessons my guardian taught me."

Her back stiffened. " 'Don't let any ningens get close to you, koishii,' " she intoned. " 'I shouldn't have to teach you the same lessons twice.' " A shudder ran down her spine. "He killed the first human that became even remotely close to me, just to prove his point." 

She jumped at least a foot when Hiei placed a hand on her shoulder, yanking her away from the counter. "I don't care what happened in your past, onna." He grabbed her chin and forced her eyes to meet his when she wouldn't do it on her own. "The past shouldn't affect your future."

Her eyes showed her struggle to regain her composure. When she had finally managed it she stepped away from him, shrugging off his hand. She half turned away from him. "That's my point, Hiei. It may or may not be my past. And I'm finding that it would actually hurt if Hakujou chose now to reappear and try to reinforce earlier messages."

She closed her eyes, cutting off another wave of tears that she refused to shed. "I despise feeling like this. I feel weak. But I still don't want to give it up." She suddenly spun her head back around and caught Hiei's gaze. "Do you understand?"

Hiei's breath hitched in his throat as he found himself unexpectedly affected by the mixture of fear, anger, and unshed tears.

She blinked and looked away, taking his silence as his usual stoic no. "Of course you don't." She rolled her eyes back to his face, emotional shields shattered, everything now visible on her face. Envy and longing played across her face unchecked, twisting her lips in an ironic smirk. "Why would you? You never let anything get to you." She looked down, blinking. "I used to be like that, but I let myself go soft." She flexed her fingers, trying to release some of her contained tension.

Kurama didn't say anything, not sure whether to remain silent and let them figure it out, or try to steer them into less painful territory. If he interfered Kisu would be no closer to resolving any issues she was having than before, but he was very much not a part of the struggle at the moment, and he wasn't sure how to involve himself. He wasn't sure how Hiei would react to being an emotional anchor, though, like she so clearly needed at the moment. Something that she could bounce all her pent up frustration at but wouldn't respond and shut her down.

But then again… maybe Hiei would be fine…

The only reason he could see the demon's lack of surety at being in such a situation, and suspected that he might not react with his usual demeanor, was because he could read and understand Hiei's moods even better than he could his own sometimes.

Especially recently… when the clear cut lines between him and Youko had been blurring. That he was neither separate nor whole with his other soul was even truer now than ever before, and he didn't know whether it should excite or worry him.

Hiei snapped out of his indecisive state as she started to step away from him, his hand coming up to brush fingers along her cheek. She met his eyes, surprised, as the growl faded from his voice, and it became evident that he was just as surprised by the action as her. "I do understand." His voice grew soft. "And being hard isn't always as good as we all wish it was." His eyes grew distant, seeing things unknown to either of the other beings in the room.

Kisu's eyes fluttered shut as Hiei's fingers remained on her cheek, absently stroking it.

Both of them slowly grew calm, until Hiei returned from whatever unpleasant memory he had been reliving, and let his hand fall back to his side. Kisu's eyes opened. She watched Hiei as he tilted his head to his chest and then looked up again. "They hurt you, too, the memories, don't they?" she said softly, soft enough that he could ignore the comment if he wanted.

The disdain in his eyes was dim as he glared at her, inclining his head in a slight nod.

They both drifted off into their own little worlds again, unable to figure out where to go with the conversation next.

Kurama sat, stunned by the change a single motion had wrought in the both of them.

"Hakujou taught me how to fight before I left. That's why I feel so horrible every time you beat me. Because my mind remembers all of these things you do, but my body doesn't, and I don't know if it's me or something they did to me before I got away. I feel like I should be able to keep up with you, but I can't, and it feels like a whole part of me is missing." Her eyes grew distant. "But I've been living like this for years, so it's nothing new." Her lips twitched in a sad smile. "That was one of my only good childhood memories, the first day I moved with that inhuman speed. It felt so free compared to everything else." She trailed off again.

"What made you leave the village, Kisu? Even without your mother you should have been able to survive." Kurama said the question softly and slowly.

Her eyes darkened, but a faint smile played on her lips, mood completely different from earlier. "As if her death wasn't enough." She sighed, and the smile died. "No. I wasn't close to her anyways. Life for me would have remained the same even without her there. It was more that I finally had the option of getting away, and I was just young enough and weak enough, and so sick of it, that I couldn't pass up the opportunity, even knowing that I wouldn't be able to get away scot free. Life for a mixed breed isn't good with my people, especially when the parent barely cares."

Hiei's eyes began to regain some of their normal attentiveness. "Who was Hakujou?"

She laughed bitterly. "You mean who _is_ he." She shook her head. "Just because I haven't seen him in a year doesn't mean he isn't still watching. I didn't see him for nearly three years once."

Hiei shot her a slightly impatient look.

She sighed again. "Fine. He's the only tribe member who was willing to be my guardian after they slaughtered my mother." She leaned against the counter again. "He's also the only one that wasn't happy to see me go." She smiled, dark humor filling her eyes. "I think he fancied me as his own personal play toy."

Hiei growled, eyes flashing, but Kisu leaned forward and placed a finger on his lips, silencing him.

She froze when he did, and immediately dropped her hand, worry lines forming between her eyes. "Sorry," she mumbled, new found resolve wavering.

She pushed away from the counter, taking a deep breath. "If that's all, I'm going to bed."

Hiei shook himself, a wave of unreadable emotions washing through his eyes, before his face settled back into its normal lines. He struggled to find something to say. "The pills."

Her shoulders tensed, but she forced them to relax. "What pills?"

A slight growl snuck into Hiei's voice. "You still haven't told me about your pills, hanyou."

Her shoulders shrugged, sagging, but she remained with her back turned to him. "They were one of the conditions if I wanted to leave."

He stepped closer, placing a hand on her shoulder and yanking her around to face him. "What do they do?" He ignored the drained and exhausted look in her eyes, her support system having again collapsed under her feet.

She shrugged again. "They prevent me from returning to my true form."

"True form?"

"They stop me from ever dropping my concentration completely. They stop me from ever being able to relax any of my basic shields, because they're permanently glued in place, or ever forget that someone is out there, controlling my life, even if that control is distant and loose. I don't even know what I really look like. I haven't been allowed to use it, or able to return to it, since I left; over seven years ago."

Her whole body tensed, and she turned blazing eyes on him, countenance again shifting. "There," she hissed. "You've dragged my weaknesses from me. I'm sick and tired of this and I want to sleep, so let go of me!"

He yanked his hand back, as though touching her would burn. "I never forced you to say anything, onna" He backed away from her. "I asked and waited for answers. There was no reason for you to answer but courtesy." He turned a stiff back to her, so that only Kurama could see his face. A faintly hurt look flashed through the koorime's eyes.

Kisu stood, anger toppling with the removal of direction, the look of confusion returning with Hiei's words. She finally blinked, and looking down mumbled, "I know." She started towards him. She had to pass him now to get out the door. "And I'm sorry. I suppose you really are just trying to help in the long run." Her feet stilled as she came alongside him, and she found herself staring at his profile as he refused to respond. Kurama saw hesitation in her body. "I'm just not used to needing, or wanting, any kind of help, especially the kind that comes from real friends…"

She took that extra step forward and quickly slipped an unsure arm around Hiei's neck, hugging him swiftly.

Hiei jerked, startled, but she had already released him, after quickly whispering, "Thanks," in his ear, and had slipped out the door, forcing a bright smile as she glanced back over her shoulder.

And then she was gone, almost like she had never been there and the whole encounter had been a dream. The only clue that it really had happened was the pale koorime staring at the spot he had last seen her, and the half-filled mug of blood still sitting on the table.

Kurama stood and placed a hand on Hiei's shoulder. The demon didn't react to the touch at all.

"I think that's the first time I've seen her willing touch one of us."

Hiei nodded dumbly, blinking and forcing himself to look away from the door. "Hn."

He pushed Kurama's hand off his shoulder. "Why should it matter?" he finally managed.

Kurama studied the eyes that were now very carefully avoiding his. "I can tell when you lie, Hiei. Not many can, but you've known that for a while."

That got him to meet his eyes, in anger.

Kurama smiled. Hiei growled and looked away again. "Cheap trick, fox."

"But it worked."

Kurama grew serious when his friend didn't respond, not even with one of his trademark looks. "If you care about her, Hiei, you should tell her," he said softly.

Hiei scowled at the wall, and Kurama thought he was going to ignore him.

"I don't care for her." He glanced at Kurama sideways. "But even if I did she doesn't want to hear it right now." He returned to scowling at the wall. "She's having enough trouble excepting us as friends. I won't be the one to push her off the edge."

Kurama's eyes softened at the emotionally challenged demon's silent confession and verbal denial. "Just think about it then." He clapped Hiei on the shoulder again as he moved to the door, heading back to the living room to get some more sleep.

"Why does she do that?" Kurama paused, sighing sharply as he turned back.

"Do what, Hiei?" He regretted his slightly harsh tone as Hiei's eyes looked at him, just the tiniest bit of real confusion and loneliness peeping out from between those closely guarded shields. He sighed again. "What does she do?" he asked in a softer tone. Even he forgot that Hiei felt more than he showed sometimes. It was so hard to keep the closet cases straight.

Hiei, of course, took the softer tone the wrong way, mistaking it for patronization. "Her mask, you idiot," He growled. His voice grew softer again, eyes the tiniest bit worried. "Why does she hide?"

Kurama couldn't help but sigh. Listening to Kisu hadn't made him any less worried about her. But at least she had finally talked to them.

Or one of them…

He was beginning to doubt whether either of his short friends was aware of the feelings they felt that were slowly becoming obvious to everyone who saw them interact. Hiei would at least think about it now that he had mentioned it to him.

He was tired of acting as mediator. He was tired of acting his personality in general. He was fed up with everyone expecting him to know everything, to be there for everything, and always have an answer. "I don't know, Hiei, but I could ask you the same question," he finally snapped. They weren't the only ones with problems. He had them, too. "But at least it looks like she might be willing to try out a new one every now and then." Kurama scowled uncharacteristically at Hiei, and then spun and marched out of the room, leaving him stunned, and even more confused than earlier.

Maybe the koorime even felt guilty, wondering what he had done to set off the only person he currently trusted enough to share some of his problems with when they became to big for even him to handle alone. Maybe he stood there trying to remember if he had even done anything to feel guilty about, and wondering if feeling guilty was even worth the trouble.

-

Aren't you glad that it's long, at least?

**koishii:** beloved

**Hakujou:** cruel

REVIEW RESPONSES

**crazedcandie:** Yes, "It's a Wonderful Life" is a classic Christmas movie. It's about a guy who tries to kill himself, is saved by his guardian angel, and is shown what his family's and friend's lives would have been like without him, therefore showing him how much he really does matter.

**Dreamstar22:** Merci, and welcome to the crew. And it's more that she feels that she has never needed any friends than that she feels like she has never had any.

**Luna:** Well, that would be my intention, so thank you for noticing! And reviewing!

**Arano:** :eats cookies: You still sure I'm better at this updating thing?

**Jasmine:** :laughs nervously: At least there's a button now?

**punk-gurl:** Thank you!

**sillylittlenothing:** Hey, you were partly right. It was Yusuke that made her start to think about the friends thing, Kurama that got her talking, but Hiei that got her to spill. :shrugs: And she knows what they do, so I just had her finally tell someone. :grins: Thanks for the review! I love reading about what people think is going to happen!

**Kamikaze:** :wistful: I wish I had some caffiene...

**Pen:** Do you realize that your screaming fit in your a/n made me jump out of my chair and almost have hysterics? Nothing against it, because it made me try to attack the chapter again, but it freaked me out. I couldn't sit down at my computer for another ten minutes after that. And here's that breakthrough of hers. Want to hazard a guess at what comes next?

**Asilin:** We all hope she does, don't we.

**Fire:** :smirks:glances at the moping Hiei: I think I have him pretty well distracted for a while. You should be safe. :whispers: He jacked my brain for the next couple of chapters. He didn't like what he found.

**Fate:** You have an excuse not to review, silly! You edit them for me! And save me from making insanely stupid mistakes like I have in the past!


	29. Chapter TwentyEight

Hey... Hmmm... Just discovered how to do line breaks with fanfic...

**Read the one-shot before you read this chapter! It is called 'Inside His Head'! It is Hiei introspection! Go READ!** And... anyone remember when I complained about my dad's library only letting you use the computers for thirty minutes? Guess where I'm going for most of vacation!

Reviews are at the end again, because I've decided that that's a nifty spot to put them!

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**Chapter 28**

**Kisu…**

You can only moon over the past for so long before you get sick of it. It's hard to say when I realized that I had wasted a week thinking about something I shouldn't even care about because someone asked me a question that wasn't even really related to that lovely bundle of memories…

…but I could hazard a guess… Hugging someone you've only ever touched in violence is a pretty good indicator…

Which is why it is Thursday morning and I am in downtown Tokyo, shopping district. Well… not the hug. It's the fact that I came damn near close to having an emotional breakdown.

That is not a night I wish to repeat anytime soon.

It was strange too, though. I didn't think Hiei would be the one to drag the majority of my life story out of me, and I've never thought of Kurama as one to sit by and watch in a time of personnel crisis.

But I think it's time to just move on from it.

I decided when I got to my room that I had wasted enough energy on the dilemma. Hakujou hasn't shown up yet, and I shouldn't be living my life in fear of him. That would give him too much joy.

So, whether it's smart or not, I'm going to forget about him for the moment. If he doesn't show up, all the better. And if he does I can kick myself later, and tell myself I told you so. That, and that friendship, and all the bonds that it creates, can only lead to pain.

But right now…

Right now I'm saying that I don't care, praying to god it doesn't come back to bite me in the butt and hoping that I don't mess up now that I've made the decision to just go with the flow.

Hence the shopping district. 'Cause you buy friends Christmas presents, right?

This was my revelation Wednesday night. Today's Thursday. I thought of this when Yusuke reminded us that we were having our little Christmas bash Friday night instead of Saturday so that people could spend the actual holiday with family.

Smooth going, right? I only have one day left to shop now that I realize I should. I could probably skip it and be fine. I don't think they expect me to get any of them anything. They may not even get me anything. But I kind of promised myself that I would at least attempt to put effort into not being as unfriendly as I usually am.

My brain is telling me that this involves shopping. My brain is also screaming, "Nooo! It burns!" I overrode my smarter side, though, because look, here I am. Thursday morning, and not in school.

And it gets even better. I had to drag someone with me, because of my lovely probation. Guess who it is.

Hiei, who's probably even more anti-crowd than I am.

Right. Let's cross the street and try not to get hit. But then again, getting hit might be more enjoyable than actually doing the shopping…

I stepped off the curb, glancing both ways for traffic. Hiei followed, stepping ahead of me. "Explain again why we are here, hanyou," he growled. I grabbed his arm and yanked him back as a car whooshed by, oblivious to us helpless pedestrians. That's the fifth time I've had to do that since I dragged him out of the apartment an hour ago. You'd think he'd learn to look both ways before trying to cross…

Another car passed and I darted across the street, dragging Hiei with me. "First of all, we are _not_ becoming road kill." I pushed him onto the other sidewalk, jumping up beside him as another car zipped by behind us. "And _I'm _Christmas shopping."

He mumbled, "My point," but I ignored him. I have absolutely no clue what to get anyone. I can afford to ignore Hiei for today and conserve energy for this trying task.

"Besides," I added, scanning shop windows for anything that looked promising. "I'm still required to have an escort, per order of Koenma himself."

My lips twitched as I caught the tail end of something about wanting to rip the whining toddler's head off, and burning the fool that came up with probation…

Now, what to get…

* * *

I still don't have any clue and walking up and down the street for an hour and a half hasn't changed that. I think Hiei's getting annoyed. I glanced over my shoulder.

Oops. He's not behind me anymore, is he? I sighed. Nope. The sidewalk was demonless. Hmm. I wonder how long he's been gone…

"What is so difficult about this, onna. Choose a store and go in." My stomach jumped as I unexpectedly heard him behind me. I turned my head, flashing an icy smile.

At least I managed to contain the surprise and appear unaffected.

But I suppose that goes against my somewhat loosely formatted friendship guidelines. I'm having trouble deciding how much of what I think applies to the others actually applies to him as well.

I sighed. Fine. Whatever. I'll deal with that problem later. "Gifts are supposed to mean something. You don't just grab something off a shelf and shove it at someone," I answered

Hiei scowled. "And how are you supposed to find anything if you won't go in anywhere?"

He has a point there. How _am_ I supposed to find anything? "Fine." I scowled at him, glancing at another storefront as the crowd jostled us. "Fluff's Dream. We'll go in here." It didn't look promising. It looked like it was all stuffed animals, but it would _hopefully_ satisfy Hiei for the moment, and give me something to do while I try to figure out where I really need to go.

I turned around, pushing on the door, to tell him to come on. But, of course, he wasn't there. "Figures," I muttered. "It's just like him to take off." I turned back to the door. "At least I don't have to worry about him seeing anything now."

I almost bit my tongue off as I finally pushed my way past the door, not looking where I was going, and slammed into Hiei, hands coming up automatically to steady myself against his chest.

"What am I not supposed to see?" he asked, ignoring the fact that I was flattened against him.

I blushed, embarrassed to even have been thinking about getting him a gift moments before. "N-nothing, Hiei," I stuttered after a moment.

Why was I stuttering? Why was I letting him affect me? I jerked back from him, able to think clearer as soon as I was out of contact with him. He watched me, a strange expression on his face, as I tried to pull myself back together. I had enough sense to try to glare at him.

His eyes blanked. I froze, my defensive posture dropping. Why does he do that? His eyes remained blank as he raised a hand to my cheek. "You're red."

Great. Just perfect. Wonderful way to get rid of a blush. My face flushed a deeper burgundy. "No shit, Sherlock," I growled.

The door opened behind us, a little bell ringing as it did, and someone elbowed their way past us, pushing us farther into the store, and me back into Hiei.

I stumbled, trying to avoid Hiei, but only succeeded in colliding harder with him. I tripped, and grabbed at his waist as I started to fall, irrationally trying to do everything I could to avoid a fall that wouldn't even hurt. The person had pushed me just a little too hard, though, and the both of us kept moving downward, both of us starting to fall, despite my hold on him. Hiei tensed in my arms, reacting to the unexpected touch, before he took a step back, regaining his balance and slipping an arm around my waist, pulling me upright again as he spun, using my own momentum to help me. I didn't even care that I was touching him at the moment. I just didn't want to end up on the floor. He slipped his other arm around me, giving me one final tug upward as we finally stopped. My body slid up against his, and I slowly opened my eyes. I hadn't even realized they were closed.

We stood like that for a second, face to face, arms wrapped around each other's waists, breathe mingling. Our bodies were flush against each other, and he was close enough to kiss.

An alarm went off in my head. I jerked back into control, panicking. I threw myself away from him, this time landing on my butt when I tripped. I scrambled to my feet, catching a momentary glimpse of something raw in Hiei's eyes as I turned my back to him, trying to get myself back under control. I chose to ignore the look. I probably imagined it anyways.

But what would have been so bad about kissing him?

I slapped a hand against my forehead, growling. I don't think I'm as in control of myself as I thought I was this morning.

"Kisu?" His voice was blank, even emptier than usual. I couldn't tell anything from it. I turned back around, forcing my hands to my sides and a smile to my face, just as I noticed the rest of the store for the fist time. I'd been so distracted that I hadn't even looked at it.

Sun filtered through windows draped with gauzy fabric, cutting bright swords through gently drifting dust motes. Just past the reaches of the sun the store plunged into darkness, lit only by softly glowing lamps. Walls and ceiling were painted rich shades of mauve, purple, and navy. The store was filled with long shelves, and people drifted up and down the aisles, looking at the odd stuffed animals. The patron stood behind her counter, garbed and jingling like a gypsy, chatting with customers as they brought up their purchases.

And the animals. They weren't what I had expected. I had expected a room colored with pastels and filled with children's toys

But these weren't children's toys. These were… magnificent. Each was unique, and each had a distinct personality of its own. Glimpsing at them, even the ones that were meant to be similar were different in some way. Eyebrows were positions just so, mouths twisted sardonically, eyes somehow appeared happy, curious, or bored, or all three at once.

They fascinated me. I wanted to wander through the store and look at each and every one of them, finding the perfect matches for my friends.

I almost laughed, and a smile tugged at my lips. Even thinking the words, and knowing that they were probably true, gave me a warm feeling in my stomach.

"You can go wait outside if you want, Hiei. This might take a while," I said, finally completing my turn towards him. I had frozen to look at my surroundings halfway through the motion before.

"You're buying stuffed animals," he said with grim disbelief.

Okay. So not the most serious gift, but I'm thinking that's okay. I have a good feeling about this store. So screw all of them. I'm buying stuffed animals and there's nothing they can do about it.

"Yeah," I said, smiling teasingly. "I'm buying stuffed animals. Now go outside. You're just going to be bored if you stick around." And I wouldn't even be able to risk buying him one, if I found one for him, if he was here. I was surprised that I was even considering buying the Jaganshi a stuffed animal, but I was going to ignore my common sense and go with the flow. I'm giving this a chance. He's just like the others, right? Just a little colder… I can't leave him out just because I think he won't like it…

* * *

His face was curiously surprised as I pushed him back out the door. I guess none of the detectives really see me relax that often. I'm always angry, or bored, or cranky when I'm around them. All I know is that it feels good to give myself a chance to for once.

I strolled out of the store two hours later, bags stuffed under my arms and rolls of wrapping paper sticking out at odd angles. Hiei's eyes were just as shielded as ever as I glided by, humming happily, fantasizing about how everyone would like their toys.

But I would have sworn I saw his lips twitch as he fell into step behind me. Then again, it may have been a trick of the light.

And now I just have to wrap all this stuff… And that should be another trip and a half… I still have painful memories from the last time I tried to wrap a gift, and how that all turned out. I'll just say that it was anything but graceful and anything but a work of art. I'm not the best person to leave alone with the tape roll.

* * *

:happy review dance: Congrats folks! You've reviewed my story 112 times:group hug: I'll go be my normal scary now, and not this freaky touchy person. :shudders: Hugs are bad...

**Arano:** I don't know why it's milk... but personally, I like OJ... Meh... updating is a tricky art... You have to find the perfect balance of finding time to write... and then actually doing it...

**Pen: **First, I was on a sugar high last time I reviewed your story. :sweatdrops: So apologies, but please do update soon:puppydog eyes: And ain't it the truth. :mumbles about inadequate writers invading site: She didn't origanally cry, but there you have it. She did, and it works. :grins: Yes. Smooches. Almost there. But there's another nasty twist just around the bed for our unemotional friends.

**Fire:** :glomps: I don't like hugs either, but I fogot to give you your hug for last chapter! Grr! I'm glad to be back. Much more fun than being gone.

**Darkness:** Yay! You be my 100th reviewer! Um... please don't hurt me?

**Iaragon:** Thanks. And I have no intention of stopping until this is finished.

**Fate:** What's the point of life if we can't be silly now and then:snickers: I know strange people. All of those quotes are real. And don't worry. I didn't mind changing the tenses. It didn't even register that I'd done the whole thing until I got your review.

**Jasmine:** :sweatdrops: A new button is coming soon? With lots of fluff and humor attached?

**Kamikaze:** Caffiene... :drools:

**Crazecandie:** It makes me mad when people do OOC! I wouldn't be reading it if I wanted OOC! This is my roundabout way of saying thank you for the compliment. :grin: So thank you!

**Asilin: **Thanks, and yay! I've been _trying _to wait patiently, so that makes me excited.

**Ciardra:** Alas, plot is essenstial in this world called fanfiction.

**Niana Kuonji: **:grins: Thanks for the compliment. It means a lot coming from you. Kisu was never intentionally made to be similair to Asilin, or Hiei usually. Her spunk is her own... though parts of it are mine...

**OneWhoWalksWithPigeons:** Nice name. Caffiene! Sugar:huddles in corner hoarding her pretties: THANK YOU:pokes the pigeons: Birdies!

**Lindsay:** Thanks, and see you on the next round!

**Luna:** :laughs: As long as you leave exams out of it I"m happy.

**ONE LAST THING!** I propose a challenge to any who dare take it! The winner shall recieve yummy cyber cookies! Predict what Hiei's, or anyone elses, gifts may be! I already know... I'm just curious as to what people are expecting... And **Darkness **and **Fate** are not allowed! Next time folks!


	30. Chapter TwentyNine

: laughs nervously : Heh... I was really busy... But now I've been sick for three days, so I've had some time on my hands. The chapter magically decided to split itself, so I've already started the next one. Hopefully this means I won't get another nasty case of writer's block. The things been picking on me a lot lately... One thing though... Very few people will be recieving cookies! Y'all got it wrong!

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**Chapter 29**

**Kisu…**

Oh say can you see, by the dawn's early light… Oops. Wrong song. That's not a Christmas carol…

I knocked back another cup of the eggnog I found in the fridge, remaining in my comfy hiding spot under the table. Hey, it's a hard linoleum floor, but these freaks are scary when it comes to decorating. You wouldn't think it takes this much effort to decorate Hiei's place. Okay, maybe you would, considering last I heard he was refusing to help in any way, shape, or form, and was yelling at them to get the worthless junk out of his apartment.

The girls must have carried in at least twenty boxes of assorted decorations while Yusuke and Kuwabara wrestled with the seven-foot tree they found god-only-knows where. The thing takes up more room than the coffee table did, which has now been moved so that the tree can take it's spot. And this was all before Kurama got here with his bags full of feast ingredients.

I poured myself another mug of eggnog and sipped at it as I tilted my head to squint at the clock.

That room is scary at the moment. They're transforming it into a tinsel nightmare, and I don't blame Hiei for wanting it all gone, something he's been growling about every time he shows up for three seconds. Of course, then he has to disappear again to avoid enlistment into the efforts. No way am I going in there again until they're done, not unless I'm drunk. I emptied the glass again, feeling slightly buzzed. And that might not be as unlikely as it should be, since I think I heard Yusuke say he was going to spike the eggnog last week. Just like him, eh?

But whatever. I think I need the buzz if I'm going to make it through tonight. Heck, I could have used it earlier, when, despite the energy they've been pouring into decorating, the girls found time to kidnap me and force me into a skirt. Who the hell do they think I need to impress? Their answer when I complained about the pointlessness of this was, "Who shouldn't I be trying to impress? It's the holidays." Right…

I barely escaped before the hair and make-up stage. It's amazing how many times they've walked by the table and missed me, too. I thought it was a fairly obvious spot to hide…

Besides, I'm having second thoughts about this gift thing. I haven't even managed to get myself to the point where I can cart them down from my room and add them to the pile that's been growing on one of the couches since this morning. If I got to that point I could just forget about them and leave the room as they opened them. It's easier to just avoid any confrontations for the time being while I try to get my nerve up.

I paused in the midst of again refilling my cup when I heard voices, raised in argument, just outside the kitchen door. The familiar pitches rose and fell as the battle between amusement and darkness ebbed. I couldn't make out their words over the scrabbling and discordant singing echoing throughout the apartment, but I didn't need to know what they were saying to know who would win.

And bingo. Botan can sue me if she wants, but I'd rather drop dead than have her find out that I want her word. This is my head, though, so I can use what I want. Whee. A little tipsy there, are we Kisu?

Kurama entered, wearing one of those smirks we've all been seeing on his face a little bit more lately, dragging a less than thrilled Hiei by the arm. Kurama stopped, releasing Hiei's arm, and pointed at the counter. "Cookies. Now."

Hiei glared, but nonetheless headed for the cabinets a moment later. "I don't see why I have to get into the 'Christmas spirit,' fox. It seems like a waste of time," he growled with his usual animosity.

Fox boy smiled, crossing his arms as he stood in the middle of the floor, but didn't say anything as Hiei began to pull ingredients out one by one. The room was silent except for the creak of cabinet doors and thuds of paper bags as flour, sugar, and chocolate chips appeared. Hiei glanced at him again, expression agitated, as he stretched up on his tiptoes, trying to reach the top shelf and the bowls. I stifled a giggle, barely stopping it as I watched Hiei's awkwardness. I've never seen Hiei awkward before. It's amusing to see him struggle. And I'm definitely not going to drink anymore tonight. I think I've had enough. I pushed the jug away from me before tuning back in to Hiei's words. "And why me? Why not go bother the hanyou?"

Kurama laughed, earning himself a very nasty look, before gliding over and effortlessly plucking a large bowl off the highest shelf. Hiei continued what was the equivalent of a rant for him, snatching the bowl from Kurama's helpful hands. "And why the hell are my bowls on the top shelf where I can't reach them, kitsune?"

"I do more cooking here than you, kajihenge, and that's where I thought they should go." I jumped, almost giving myself away with a yelp, as Kurama disappeared from view and a clump sounded over my head. Ha ha. He's sitting on the table. Now I can't see him. "And no one's seen Kisu for hours."

My breath caught in my throat when Hiei directed a piercing stare at my table, barely pausing as he pulled more cookie essentials out of the fridge. He finally looked away and returned to his counter, grabbing a spoon on the way. I was almost able to convince myself that he really didn't know I was there. "Hn."

He definitely knows.

Kurama's legs reappeared over the table edge. He crossed the room and clapped Hiei on the shoulder before heading for the door. "I'm off to see if I can get her involved now, too. Does that make you feel any better?" I couldn't see the fox's face, and I couldn't tell if he knew I was here. I do _not_ want to be Christmassy right now, so he can go to hell. Hiei answered him with an unattractive snarl. I guess that means no, but Kurama was already gone, so I don't think he really cares.

I was in the middle of crawling out from my hiding spot, don't ask me why, dragging what was left of the eggnog behind me, when Hiei finally won his battle with the flour bag. The top ripped open suddenly, and flour mushroom clouded upward into his face while it spilled over his hands in a cascade of white. I snorted when he turned to stare at me, face half caked with the stuff and shirt just as bad.

"You should really be more careful, Hiei," I said, standing with only the tiniest wobble. I skipped over to him, jumping up onto the counter next to his project, happily swinging my feet. His smudged cheeks were rather endearing, actually. They made him look ten times younger and appear at least twice as innocent.

He glared at me, pouring in sugar and cracking an egg at the same time. _Think that again and I'll kill you. _Oh golly, those aren't my shields that are down, are they?

I shoved the jug I was still hanging onto under his nose, nearly clocking him in the head, and dramatically bringing my other hand to my forehead with a mock sigh. "It's all the eggnogs fault." I peered at him out of one eye. "Pour it down the drain before I do myself any more damage, will you?"

He studied me for a moment, pausing in his mixing. "What does the eggnog have to do with anything?"

"Everything. It's Yusuke's," I stated cheerily. "Oh! That looks yummy!" I dropped the jug, trying to plunge a finger into the mixed dough.

Hiei jerked away from the counter, taking the gooey batter with him and clutching it to his chest protectively. He scowled at me. "These are my cookies, hanyou. Don't touch."

The jug rolled across the floor, stopping at someone's feet. The person stooped to pick it up. "Fine, keep it," I piped, unaware of the new arrival. "I don't want it anyway, aisuhana," I finished, sticking my tongue out at him. "I bet it tastes nasty anyway."

Hiei growled in anger. "I already told you that name makes no sense, half-breed."

"I know." I smirked and slipped off the counter, immediately bumping right into a grinning Yusuke. I blinked up at him. "Hello…"

"Hello to you too." He glanced at our favorite flour covered apparition. "I didn't know Hiei cooked."

I glanced over my shoulder and shrugged with a smile. "Me either."

Yusuke studied the two off us for a moment, face amused, before he shook his head in a resigned way. "I don't think I want to know how Hiei got covered in flour, but nice touch." He held up the half-empty jug of eggnog. "I was coming in here to ask if anyone had seen this." His eyes sharpened, scrutinizing me carefully. "You want to tell me what happened to the rest of it? 'Cause the last time you acted this happy was when we went clubbing and Hiei got you drunk."

I pasted on my best innocent face and looked up at him. "What? You think I drank it? You know I don't drink, Yusuke." I smiled, the perfect image of congeniality.

Yusuke studied me a moment longer and then he just laughed. "Fine. Whatever. Just tell me when the real Kisu shows up." He started swaggering back to the door, cocky smirk rematerializing. "See ya in a bit, aisuhana," he flung at Hiei and disappeared back into the war zone with a casual wave.

I would have almost sworn that Hiei's death glare would set the doorjamb on fire. And then he turned it on me, and I decided that I had overstayed my welcome. I bounced by him, snatching the spoon from his hand and shoving it in my mouth. "Good luck with your cookies, Hiei," I managed, talking around the spoon and moving swiftly for the door. He scowled and muttered under his breath, shooting me one last dirty look, and then turned back to the counter, beginning to drop chunks of dough onto a cookie sheet I hadn't noticed before.

I paused and watched him, continuing to lick dough off the spoon, tilting my head to the side. He finished filling his second tray and glanced at me as he picked them up and carried them to the stove. _I thought you were leaving._

I finished the spoon and tossed it into the sink with a shrug. _I am._ I watched for another minute as he gave me an odd look and then went back to fiddling with the temperature. I took a deep breath, feeling myself sober, and headed for the door.

I have a good thing right now, even with Hiei. I'm happy, and for once I really don't want to mess it up. "Hey, Kisu." I looked up at Shizuru, trying to push my seriousness back and regain the carefree feelings from a few moments earlier.

I stopped in the door and leaned against the wall. "Yeah?"

"Rumor has it you went shopping yesterday."

I brought a warm smile to my face and was surprised by how easily it came. "Yeah. Maybe. What's it to you?"

Her eyes teased me. "Rumor mill is also saying you left carrying some pretty big bags and wrapping paper. We were just discussing how likely it is that we'll ever get to see what you got us." Shizuru smirked from her spot on the couch. The others stopped their chattering to listen to my response.

"Yeah." I looked over at Kuwabara. "We didn't see any packages that weren't from one of us when we put stuff under the tree." And that would be because it's all still up in my room.

I blinked, and realized that they had finally finished the decorating. That would explain why they were all just sitting there, sipping spiked eggnog, not that I thought anyone but Yusuke and me were _aware_ that it was spiked. The tree might have given that away too, though.

The tree was gorgeous. Lights shown from the depths of it, catching on sparkling decorations and Christmas ornaments placed at strategic points throughout the room, multiplying the light until the entire room was lit by that single soft glow. It was surprisingly beautiful, especially because they had done it and I had expected it to turn out rather messily. I even forgot that they had asked me a question, until I realized the only one of them, besides Hiei, not lounging around in comfortable celebration, was Kurama.

"Hey," I said slowly. "What happened to Kurama?"

Shizuru waved a hand dismissivly. "He said something about checking on Hiei."

Yusuke looked up from where he and Keiko were sharing the armchair. "It's your gifts we wanna hear about anyway. We didn't realize you were getting anyone anything." His eyes took on the same teasing qualities as Shizuru's.

Nice way to make me feel like a prick, Yusuke. "And what if I didn't? What if you read the signs wrong?"

Some form of mild disappointment or hurt at my callous answer flashed across their faces, and I felt like an even bigger prick. Just because I don't feel comfortable with the fact that I care what they think doesn't mean I should take it out on them.

Shizuru was studying me closely. A big grin suddenly split her face. "But you did, Kisu. I can feel it."

I blinked in the face of her conviction, not sure how to get around the situation now. I didn't want to accuse her of jumping to conclusions like I really wanted to, because the truth was that I _had_ gotten them things, and they all knew that I did now. I guess we all just need to know when to throw in the towel, right? I scowled at the group. "Fine. I got you presents. They're in my room." I stepped away from the wall. "I'll go get them."

I looked at each of them, expecting to see triumphant grins or teasing expressions, and instead found mischief glinting from every eye I met.

"Just a second," Yusuke said, his face the most devilish of them all. "Look up first."

I narrowed my eyes, skeptical, but did so. I found myself staring at a sprig of some sort of plant. I raised my eyebrow as I met Yusuke's amused eyes again. "Okay. It's a twig. So?

Keiko's grin widened. "It's mistletoe," she stated in her cheery voice.

"Mistletoe?" I repeated blankly. I honestly couldn't remember what was so special about mistletoe for a moment. And then the significance of it hit me as remembrance of the tradition associated with the plant returned. "Che! You guys aren't serious, are you?" by the way predatory grins around the room grew I was guessing they were. Yusuke was on the verge of laugher. I scowled at him. "You better not have set me up, detective."

A chuckle escaped and his eyes danced. "That's the beauty of it. I didn't. You just happened to stop under it. I swear I wasn't trying to get just you."

I narrowed my eyes further. "But it was you that put it up?" He nodded. "And there's no way you're letting me out of it?" This time everyone in the room nodded. "Shit." My scowl deepened. It was either kiss one of the guys in this room if they happened to stand up and leave through this door… or wait for the one person still in the kitchen to come this way.

I heard a footstep behind me. I was really going to do this, wasn't I… but only if I got some help for my brain, and quick. I had accepted the challenge, so now I had no choice but to follow through with it. I reached a hand out to Yusuke. "Give me your eggnog, jerk." The lines of laughter in his face deepened as he handed it to me. I downed it as I felt the presence in back of me. "Now or never," I muttered, dropping the glass to the ground with a clink. I clenched my eyes shut, spun around, and dragged the person's head down by the scruff of their shirt.

And I was very surprised to find that the person I was lip-locked with was not my height, as I had expected, but much taller. My eyes shot open and I yelped, much to everyone's amusement, as I jumped back. I hurried to stutter an explanation as my face started to burn. "I was… just… um… I thought…" I finally spun and jabbed a finger at Yusuke. "Damnnit! It's his fault!" I glanced back at the fox, ready to wince at the anger, or whatever it was I thought I would see in his eyes. Instead Kurama was just as amused as the rest of the room, and didn't waste any time before teasing me.

"Not who you were expecting?"

My face flushed an even darker crimson, if possible. "Who do you think I was expecting? Hiei?" I crossed my arms, knowing it was in vain, and laughed harshly. "You must be kidding. Of course I wasn't expecting Hiei." Except I had been. Why did kissing Hiei seem more appealing than kissing Kurama? Maybe because I could hit the aisuhana afterwards, erasing the seriousness of it, where I couldn't the kitsune? "I would never even consider kissing Hiei. If I had thought you were Hiei I would have hit you instead." Kurama raised an eyebrow, cutting off my rambling.

"So you were expecting me? Because I'm the only logical choice if you weren't expecting Hiei."

I shifted nervously, glancing around the room for support, and found none. "Well… um… Not exactly."

"So?"

"Well… um…"

"Fox! The cookies are done." An agitated Hiei appeared just behind Kurama, and I was for once thankful for his rude interruption. A giggle popped from my mouth as Kurama turned and I noticed that poor Hiei was still covered in his costume of flour, though most of the stuff had managed to migrate north from his hands to his shirt and hair, making his inky black locks turn a dusty gray. He had even managed to get a smudge of dough on his already powdery cheek. Kurama muttered something that even I, with my hearing, couldn't catch, causing Hiei to scowl and shake his head. Kurama's lips twitched and the others strained to see what we both found so amusing. Yusuke cleared his throat and ducked his head when he caught site of the apparition. He'd seen Hiei earlier when he'd come in search of that infernal eggnog. I think we both expected Hiei to at least attempt to clean up before leaving the kitchen. Even Hiei must have realized what would happen if the others saw him like that. Kurama stepped back into the kitchen with another whispered word to Hiei, to remove what smelled suspiciously like burning cookies. Kuwabara suppressed a snicker as Hiei was revealed to the general audience.

"What'd you do, shrimp? Fall in the bowl?"

Shizuru's eyes glittered and Keiko and Botan giggled. Yusuke still had his head bowed, trying not to laugh and avoid the rage of the ticked off demon standing in the doorway. I, meanwhile, wanted to hug the jerk. Hiei probably didn't even realize it, but he had saved me from an embarrassment that could have lasted all night. I ducked out of the line of fire, hoping that no one would remember what had just happened between Kurama and me.

"I'm going to go get the presents, guys," I said, starting up the chairs. Shizuru glanced at me and gave me a little wave before turning her eyes back to Hiei. I snuck my own glance at him. He looked like he was about to rip off Kuwabara's head. The baka was still snickering and making comments. I almost felt sorry for him, but my gratefulness outweighed the urge to immediately return the favor. Maybe if he was still being assaulted when I came back down I would help.

My step faltered. Now _he_ was looking at _me._

_Well? Are you going?_

I felt my face start to pale before the finally faded blush started to rush back. Did that mean that he knew he was distracting them? And about the kiss… and… and what I had been thinking?

_I know, onna. _Something softer flickered under his agitation for a moment. _Go, before they remember._

The amount of blood flooding into my cheeks was making my head feel like it was about to explode, but I did my best to ignore I as I turned and fled up the stairs, shoving a messily formed _thank you_ in his general direction. I didn't doubt that he would get it, so I didn't wait for a response as I finally brought up the shields that had fallen hours ago. I know to be careful, and I have the skills to be careful now. I just have to remember to do it.

I tried to convince myself that the look on Hiei's face was something that I had imagined as I slammed my door and hurriedly began gathering up the sloppily wrapped gifts. And I tried to pretend that thinking about that look on his face wasn't making my stomach do flip-flops.

* * *

**REVIEW RESPONSES** I'm not making comments on gifts yet. So... if I don't answer your review this time because the only thing you talked about was the gifts I'm sorry and I'll answer it in the next chapter.

**Fate:** Ha ha. Yeah. That story is dead for the moment. But I suppose that's okay, since the procrastinating translated into working on this

**Arano Hanou: **Sure, of course you can use the quote. I don't think anyones ever wanted to quote me before... I have this whole story planned. And the one shot really did just break the flow a little too much. Otherwise I would have just added it in.

**Jasmine:** Button, button, who's got the button... Not me!

**Darkness:** Considering what's happened in the past with that rabbit I think he'd murder you... no doubt about it... : sweatdrops : He's way too overprotective of it...

**Jessy:** No. She hasn't met Puu.

**Pen: **: laughs : My friend tries to stab me with forks. And yeah... writer's block is mean... But please! Update soon?

**OneWhoWalksWithPigeons:** Cookies: pounces :

**Fire:** : grins : Yes, hugs are bad. But your reactions are fun. So... : hug: Yes.. shopping... evil... except for the book stores. I love book stores.

**Kamikaze:** Poor soda...

**Katana Blade:** I hope you've been getting some more sleep! And this definetly isn't the last chapter... still got ten or twelve to go.

**Mayara-chan:** Sure, just mention that you got it from my story in your author's note.


	31. Chapter Thirty

Gym class reminds me of a hamster wheel...

* * *

**Chapter 30**

**Kisu…**

"Woah. Watch your step." Yusuke jumped up as I stumbled down the stairs, barely able to see around my armful of packages. Skilled I am not in the wrapping department. I quickly gave up on the scotch tape when wrapping these, deciding that it would take morefinesse than I could manage. Instead I attacked the mangled paper with packaging tape. I don't know why wrapping is such a pain for me, only that it is not one of my fortes.

I opened my mouth to hiss, "Buzz off, baka yar-ar-ar-ow!" at him, just as I tripped over the cup I had dropped earlier, and fell headlong down the last few steps. Presents showered down on the gang as I landed in a grumbling lump at Hiei's feet. What is this, the third time I've embarrassed myself in front of him today? Must be a new record…

But somewhere among these scattered gifts is one meant for him. Doubt again washed through me as I glanced up into his scowling face. I almost left it up in my room when I was gathering the gifts to bring them down, but changed my mind at the last second, snatching it up as I walked out the door. And now it's too late. It's here, and I have to give it to him.

"Kisu, are you okay?" Yusuke crouched down and poked me in the side.

I grabbed at the distraction, allowing my eye to twitch as I sat up and glared at him. "No duh," I growled, starting to stand up. "Of course I'm okay." Yusuke stood with a grin, trying to grab my arm and help me up. I glared at him, brushing him off, as the others quickly gathered up my spilt deliveries with the same merry spirit they had used to decorate Hiei's humble abode.

Soon everything was neatly piled under the tree, and everyone was back in their places, eyes firmly fixed on me. I guess it's not everyday that I do something determinedly nice for them, but that can't stop me from wishing they would stop.

Yusuke finally threw a suggestion out to the group, breaking the slowly lengthening silence. "I don't know about you guys, but I want to see what's in those packages." He motioned towards the sorry things. "Who votes we open Kisu's things first?" He raised his hand in the air. The others quickly followed suit, warm tones of agreement buzzing around them. I felt embarrassment crawl through my stomach again, certain that my gifts would prove to be just as stupid as I was afraid they were, and unease froze me to the spot. I thought I left these ugly emotional monsters behind when I went upstairs…

_Give them the gifts, hanyou. I didn't take you shopping for nothing. _

I glanced over my shoulder, having forgotten that Hiei was standing there, and realized for the first time since coming downstairs that he had somehow managed to rid himself of the flour in the few minutes I had been gone. A distant pang of disappointment sounded in the back of my head. I'd rather enjoyed seeing him ruffled.

I shook it off, and threw a snide comment his way. _Right, Hiei. Getting run over was such an essential part of the trip._ I turned back to the group and sauntered into the somewhat open space surrounding the tree, ignoring any comment Hiei might have been about to toss back, smirk springing to my face and spirits soaring.

"Fine," I said, a soft laugh sneaking out with the words. I opened my hands to them. "But don't say I didn't warn you." I did a quick turn, taking a look at each of them, and finally settled my gaze on Yusuke. "And I'd say the detective could go first, since this is his idea, but I think he'll be disappointed." The energy of the room picked up again and turned festive, or maybe it had been all along and I was just noticing it.

Yusuke tried to look duly crushed, but couldn't really pull it off. I cut off whatever he was going to reply with, though, as I plucked his gift from the pile and tossed it to him with a smile.

He caught it, earnest smile spreading across his face before changing to his usual grin. "I knew you were just kidding." He shook a finger at me before his curiosity won out.

Yusuke ripped the paper off, and froze. The color drained from his face. I hid my sudden disappointment at his expected dislike under annoyance. "You want to tell me what's wrong with it?" I stepped closer, and looked down at the blue, penguin like creature I had thought perfect for him. He tapped its yellow beak and pulled its long blue ear, lowering his pale face closer to stare into its cocky eyes, and then looked up, expression furious. I took an involuntary step backwards, startled. "You killed him!"

"What?" I asked, quirking an eyebrow at him, trying to diffuse the situation.

He tossed the animal into the air and stood, towering over me. It was the first time in a while that I had been made so uncomfortably aware of the disadvantage of being short. "You killed Puu!"

Shizuru jumped up and caught the flying toy, surprise, and then understanding, flashing through her eyes. She pulled Keiko close and whispered in her ear as Yusuke advanced on me. I backed away slowly. I really didn't want to fight him. I didn't even know what I had done wrong. He grabbed the thing back from Shizuru and shook it in my face. "Why did you kill my spirit beast!"

I narrowed my eyes at him, still trying to grasp what had set him off. "Yusuke," I said slowly. "I don't know what you're talking about. I didn't kill anything."

Color flooded his face, mounting quickly as his blood pressure went up a couple of notches. "To hell you didn't!" he screamed. "Look!" He held the thing up so that he could take a look at it as well. "Does he look alive to you?" He kept ranting at me, but I gave up. He wasn't making any sense, and he was too hyped up to make any anytime soon. He was being too noisy for my to ask one of the others as well.

So I blocked him out, and looked at Hiei for an explanation. He's the only one I can talk to in any situation, regardless of noise. _What is this idiot talking about?_ He stared at me for a second before smiling slightly and shrugging. I glared at the ass hole. Gee… Thanks… _Wow, Hiei. That makes everything so clear. _

"Kisu! Are you even listening to me?" I jumped as Yusuke grabbed my shoulder and yanked me back around to face him.

I blinked up at him. "Um… no?"

His hands inched closer to my neck, twitching like he wanted to wrap them around it and strangle me. I can't say I blame him.

"Yusuke!" Keiko ran up behind him from the other side of the room, clutching her school bag to her chest. Yusuke ignored her, eyes still burning bloody murder.

"Yusuke!" she repeated, getting his attention with a smart tap to the back of his head.

His eye twitched, and he slowly lowered his hands, turning to face her. "Yes… Keiko?" he snapped, energy coiled tightly, ready to explode again.

She bristled, and whacked him harder. "Watch your tone, Yusuke. I'm not the one that did anything." She snatched my gift from his hand again and gave it back to Shizuru to hold. "As a matter of fact," she mumbled, fumbling with the bag's buckle. "Neither did Kisu." The bag popped open, and a tuft of black fur become visible before whatever it was attached to wiggled and burrowed back into the bag's dark depths.

Yusuke froze, and some of the tension drained from his muscles. He leaned forward and poked the tuft. "Puu?"

"Puu-uu-uu-u…" it squeaked drowsily.

A grin spread across his face and he thrust his hands into the bag, pulling out a blurry-eyed replica of the thing I had given him. "Puu!" he exclaimed.

The creature blinked up at him shook it's head. "Puu!" it shouted angrily, unhappy to have been woken. I watched the scene, somewhat stunned.

Yusuke tipped it upside down. "So he's not… dead?" Shizuru sighed and handed the stuffed match back to him as the 'real' one bit his hand, blinked at him furiously as it flapped its oversized ears and hovered in front of the boys face, and then flew up to perch on his head, musing the carefully gelled hair.

"No, you imbecile. Kisu managed to get you a look-a-like somehow."

Yusuke nodded, trying to pry the sharp claws out of his hair. "Okay. But… why is he here?"

Keiko yanked on his ear. "Because I didn't want him to be alone all night. You know he hates that. And he would have been happy just sleeping if you hadn't thrown a tizzy."

Yusuke jumped around, emitting small pain sounds as Keiko continued to tug at his ear. "Eh, eh, eh! Okay!"

I stared at the creature perched on Yusuke's head, wondering what the hell it was, why none of these people seemed to be surprised by it, and why _I _had never seen it before. "Um… Excuse me." Keiko stopped in her tugging for a moment to look at me. Yusuke flashed me a thankful smile and slipped away from her, only to regain her attention and be chased again. Fine, be like that. "Someone tell me why the hell I've never seen this thing before!" I shouted. The pandemonium continued as Keiko chased her love around the room, yelling that he should learn to be more respectful.

Kuwabara popped out from behind the couch and sidled over to me, for once deciding that I was the safest choice. "Koenma said not to, and then we couldn't figure out how to make you believe it was real when he told us we could," he muttered before ducking out of the way of the now airborne Puu.

The baka hadn't really helped me understand anything, so I decided to try a different route. If I was careful I might be able to get Hiei to tell me. With that thought I sent a message his way, not bothering to look. _Yarou, you knew. Why didn't you tell me?_

So it wasn't the most polite query, but that's how I always address Hiei. Why should I change that just because I want something?

Amusement drifted into my mind. _You never asked. Do you know what a spirit beast is?_

I thrust annoyance at him, not dignifying him with a reply. Of course I knew what a Spirit Beast was. I might have even heard a rumor about Yusuke's penguin once, now that I think about it. Why couldn't I have remembered this yesterday?

_Because that's not the way life works. _

I scowled. _Out of my head, Hiei. I'm thinking._

_And a lot of good it's doing you._

I was about to snap at the kajihenge when I felt his presence withdraw. My head turned, following his ebbing power back to its source, until I again stared at him, feeling cheated out of a good chance to get angry. His power flared for another moment, and then dropped back to its normal levels.

_Anger isn't everything, Kisu._

My mouth dropped open, partly from surprise from the statement, partly from confusion for the same reason, but Yusuke tapped me on the shoulder before I could reply. I don't even know what I was going to reply with. That's what usually happens the few rare times that Hiei uses my name. I lose my train of thought.

My mouth snapped shut quickly, and I stonily faced Yusuke again.

Yusuke's face was sheepish. Puu was back on his head, and mine was tucked under his arm. Keiko stood at his elbow, wearing a fierce expression. "Keiko says I need to apologize." His girlfriend glared and he rolled his eyes. It drew a small smile to my lips. "Fine. I know I need to apologize," he added, sticking out a hand and cracking a half grin. "You accept?"

I knocked his hand aside and walked back to the presents, crouching to poke at the tape smothered things I had contributed. I finally chose one and stood up.

Yusuke was still watching me, waiting for an answer. "Forget about it," I said, flashing a grin. "Just tell me how you got stuck with a blue fluff ball sometime and we'll call it even." I tossed Kuwabara his package as he emerged from the kitchen, where he'd hidden to avoid any more flying Puu attacks. I winked at Yusuke as Kazuma eagerly tore into the paper. "And lay off the eggnog for now. I don't think it's helping you any."

* * *

Kuwabara, to his credit, only freaked out for a second when he opened his gift and found a fierce leopard growling up at him, black spots popping out against a vibrant yellow coat and teeth bared viscously. After he got over his initial wave of fear he was able to comment nervously about the creature's laughing eyes.

Keiko's eyes went dreamy as she gently lifted a kind faced sparrow from its nest of ruined paper, and thanked me quietly as she sat on the couch, stroking the pale brown, oversized wings.

Shizuru responded with mild amusement when she discovered that I had given her a yellow-eyed cat, remarking that she had expected her brother to be the one to get the feline, not her. The creature's lips twisted in an ironic cat grin, and feigned sleep as it examined things critically from beneath half closed lids. It had oversized paws, and the coat was a solid black except for the fluffy white tail tip. It looked almost real as she curled it up in her lap and leaned back to watch Kurama open his. I don't think any of them would have been surprised if it had started to purr.

I watched as Kurama opened his gift and carefully examined it. After Hiei's, his had been the one I had worried most about. He ran his fingers through the small fox's crimson fur, fur that was shot through with strands of black. The tail and paws were a pale charcoal gray, and the ear tips black. What seemed to be real claws poked out of the paws and the big ears were cocked in curiosity. But it was the eyes that had made it impossible for me not to get it for him, even if their message seemed a little more serious than it should be for the holidays. "It's perfect," he said, looking up from the deceptively polite eyes. Those emeralds were so like his, hiding a rebellious streak just beneath the surface. Once I saw the eyes there had been no other option for Kurama. "It's perfect," he repeated, slightly softer as he ruffled the head fur. A small smile ghosted across his lips. "Thank you."

I don't know how this shop makes their products seem so realistic, but it seems almost magical. I'm probably more thankful to them for finding a way to do it so that I could give them to my friends than any of my friends can be for me giving them to them.

I smiled, about to tell him that it was nothing, when Botan gasped, the body of her water serpent unrolling from the package and falling to the floor. Hers was the most peaceful of all the ones I had chosen, with its icy blue body and serene face. She picked it up, fingers tracing the silver veined wings, before draping the lithe body around her neck. Her aura took on a more definite, mystic taste as her eyes grew distant and she stroked the pointed silver horns.

A comfortable silence fell over the group for a while and Yusuke tried to introduce a wary Puu to its unknowing clone. He didn't seem to be having much success, but his antics drew a few soft chuckles from us.

That is, until Shizuru shattered the peace with her soft voice.

"Who's the last one for?"

The slightly stunned state my giving people stuffed animals had induced dissipated. Energy picked up again, and curious faces fastened on the single package still sitting conspicuously alone.

My stomach dropped. I had put off the inevitable for as long as possible.

"It's… for Hiei," I said, shifting nervously. The girls exchanged knowing glances. I wanted to tell them that it wasn't what they obviously thought it was, and that my nervousness about his meant nothing, but I knew they wouldn't believe me if I tried, so I remained quiet. Besides, I still can't put a name to the reason of my nervousness. I'm not bringing it up with them until I have an argument I can win with.

"Then why don't you give it to him?" Yusuke questioned, motioning to the glowering demon, chocolate eyes refusing to give me a choice.

"Yes, why not?" Kurama added, face just as polite as the fox I had given him.

Oh yes, Kisu. Why not give Hiei a stuffed animal and get your head chopped off?

I bristled, characteristically using my anger as a shield against their scrutiny. These people know me better than any one ever has, though, and I knew they would see through it. "He won't even like it, so why should I give it to him," I hissed. And that's the depressing truth. There's little to no chance of Hiei appreciating it.

_And how do you know that, hanyou. Have you suddenly become a mind reader?_

"Get out of my head!" I yelled, turning to face the silent figure still leaning by the wall. _This_ is why I avoid talking about things concerning Hiei when he's in the room. Because he likes to complicate things for me just because he can. The others looked dully amused by my apparently yelling at nothing, but they all know about Hiei's lovely mind speak abilities, so they can't tell me I'm completely crazy. Just tactless.

I gave them my best glare, letting them know I didn't appreciate them butting in, and stated, "I'm just trying to minimize everyone's embarrassment."

Yusuke gave me a 'yeah right' look and tossed me the package. "You're just trying to minimize your _own_ embarrassment." I caught it with a scowl. It's not like I had much choice. This only brought a cocky grin to his face. "Knew you'd see it our way." Ha ha. Very funny.

I spun with a growl and stalked toward the still motionless Hiei. His face was carefully blank again, but the fool was probably laughing at me from behind those safe walls of his. I shoved the package at him, hissing, "Don't open it in here." Surprisingly he took it without complaint, though his expression didn't change any.

I was about to continue into the kitchen when Yusuke shouted at me. I turned around, sick of seeing his smug smile even before I'd even seen it. "What."

The expected smirk was plastered across his face. "Come sit down. You forgot something."

Hiei snorted, but before I could turn and ask him what was so funny he was gone, disappearing to some unknown location, taking his gift with him.

I sighed, suspicion creeping back into my mind as I returned to the circle of couches. "Fine, what did I forget?"

A long, oblong box dropped into my lap, much better wrapped than I would ever be able to manage.

"What is it?"

Botan rolled her eyes. "You have to open it to find out, Kisu."

"Uh huh…" I eyed them all doubtfully. "You know you didn't have to get me anything."

Yusuke plopped down onto the seat next to me. "Sure, and you didn't have to do anything for us."

"But I did have to," I protested.

Kurama smiled slyly. "Exactly."

"Besides," Yusuke added. "That's only half of your gift."

I lost the right to protest my curiosity as my fingers started ripping the package open of their own accord. The paper dropped to the floor, quickly followed by the lid, and I found myself starring at a beautiful, handcrafted glaive. I knew because I had never seen anything manufactured that even came close to matching it in quality. The staff portion was made from a handsome, six-foot length of mahogany, and the end was shod with iron. The blade at the top was eight inches of perfectly sharpened, perfectly tempered Japanese steel, and light reflected from it in tantalizing ripples of blue. It was ten times better than any of the weapons I had ever owned before.

"How? Why?" I asked, hands already lifting it up reverently. "It's amazing."

"Kurama had the idea, and we all pitched in the money," Yusuke explained. All of their faces glowed with pride as I stepped away from them, unable to wait to test its swing. The heft of it surprised me, almost causing me to fall over.

"Hiei's the one that mentioned it," Kurama added modestly. That surprised me, causing me to pause mid-swing and study him. He didn't look like he was making it up.

Kuwabara scowled. "I still don't see why no one will explain how you broke yours in the first place."

Kurama's lips twitched and I glared at him, swiftly moving behind his seat to whisper in his ear. "Tell them and I'll kill you."

That startled a laugh from him, which hadn't been my intent. "You wouldn't kill me, Kisu."

Yusuke leaned forward. "Ohhh. I smell a story."

A faint blush crept into my cheeks at the thought of them knowing how badly I had let Hiei beat me that one time. "No, you don't."

He shrugged, eyes twinkling, and let it go. "Fine. Do you want to know what the real gift is?"

Suspicion again came rushing back. "That depends…"

He laughed, the rest of them smiling. "You're free."

"And…?" I said, not understanding. "I'm already free."

He rolled his eyes. "Nooo… You're on probation. But now you're not."

An idea formed in my head. "You mean…"

"Koenma finally got around to doing the paperwork and making it official. He's known that keeping you on probation was pointless for months; he just never got around to it." Yusuke shook his head. "I almost feel sorry for the kid. He really does have a lot more work to do than he let's on."

It felt like a piece of the floor had dropped out from under my feet. I had become so used to the rules that went along with probation. Would I still be able to do the things I liked so much now that I wasn't required to? "Then… I don't have to stay here anymore?" Would I have to leave?

His grin widened. "You don't have to, but where else would you want to go? Koenma fixed your Dad's job so that he'll at least remain stationed here."

"He did?" I repeated blankly. That _would_ explain why it's been so long since we moved.

"Aye." Yusuke stood and kindly forced me into a chair. "Just sit there, dope. It'll sink in eventually."

I mustered a half-hearted glare. "Reality already has sunk in, bozo. I'm trying to get over the fact that I'm stuck with all of you."

Yusuke smiled happily at me as he sat back down, slinging an arm over Keiko's shoulder. "As long as we have it straight."

* * *

I watched for a while as they began to open and exchange gifts with each other, laughing and smiling at the appropriate times. But an odd feeling was sitting in my stomach, making it hard to enjoy the moment completely, and accept the joy I should be feeling at finally having people to share this special holiday with.

Finally I stood up and headed to the kitchen. Keiko had just opened a gift from Yusuke, discovering a rather rude garment, and her following anger and embarrassment made it easy for me to slip out of the room mostly unnoticed.

A few moments later I was standing in front of the fridge, stuck looking at the delicious treats everyone but me would be enjoying later. I rarely regret not being able to eat like everyone else. Most of the time I just accept it, but sometimes I can't. I finally gave in and grabbed an apple from the hydrator, swinging the door shut as I bit into it. A hand slammed into the fridge door, right next to my head.

I glanced up at my assaulter, annoyed, and took another bite of my apple, savoring its sweet juices. "What." What would be so bad about leaving here? About not having to put up with this person every day?

Hiei glared, moving closer, backing me against the door. "You're going to make yourself sick," he said angrily.

"Yeah. So?"

He appeared slightly taken aback by my carelessness, and then shook his head, a smile tugging at his lips quickly before disappearing. "Why?"

"Why what?" I said, trying to slip past him.

His other arm came up, blocking my escape and trapping me between his arms. In his hand was a plush, purple rabbit. It had a chubby body, perfect for hugging, and ears that hung down to its heels. It's feet were large too, and at least a foot long. Innocent orange eyes stared out of the dark furred face, and the lips were lifted in the slightest smile. "Oh... that."

"Yes, that. Why did you get it for me?" He paused, and then added, "You weren't obligated to get me something just because you got the others gifts."

I've been asking myself that same question since I went shopping yesterday. Why did I buy him something? Why was it so important that the gift to be as perfect as possible, when it was obvious that all of the things I even considered getting him would be disastrous? All the obvious answers felt wrong. I didn't buy it because I live with him. I didn't buy it because I bought everyone else something. I bought it because I wanted to. But... why had I felt this need? My mind veered from the question every time, before I could even begin considering possibilities.

I looked up, still searching for words as I met his eyes, and found his face carefully blank, inches from mine. Something strange was going through his head. I could tell even without being able to see any signs of it on his face. "You read me," I said, voice guarded. I should have expected it.

His eyes bored into mine. "Maybe. Does it matter?"

I forced a shrug. "No. It's not like I was thinking anything embarrassing."

His eyes became slightly contemplative. The small amount of emotion seemed to draw me deeper in. "Why a rabbit?"

I glanced at the creature, and his face seemed to dip minutely closer to mine. "Monty Python," I finally said.

"What?"

"We watched it a couple weeks ago," I said impatiently. "Do you remember the killer rabbit? That's why."

"But that rabbit was white." His face dropped closer still.

What was so wrong about wanting this? Why couldn't I want it, even if it was pointless? I'm not… exactly sure about my feelings for Hiei, but lately they've been a little bit different than what they used to be. "But you aren't white," I mumbled.

I was pressed against the fridge, and he was steadily closing the distance. "What are you doing?"

He paused, lifting his ruby eyes to my gray ones. "The fools say you're supposed to kiss someone for this holiday. Kurama has already gotten his kiss from you, and the others have their own girls."

"Kuwabara has a girl?" His lips hovered over mine, and he frowned slightly at the mention of the baka. I made no move to stop him. I was in a mild state of shock.

"Hai." He ran a finger along my jaw line, expression growing wistful. "The baka has my sister."

A sister. My head began to spin. Why am I suddenly finding out so many new things about them, when there is now nothing keeping me here? I'm ready to admit that they are my friends, but am I ready to make a bigger commitment than that? And what bigger commitment than friendship is there? Why didn't anyone share these things with me before?

Hiei took the opportunity to swiftly press hot lips to mine. He pulled back just as quickly, slipping a package into my hands in the same instant, not giving me time to respond, or decide whether I wanted to, instead only adding another layer to my growing confusion. Two kisses, release from probation, presents? What a night…

My gaze fell from Hiei to the thing in my hands. It was a lumpy bundle, wrapped in a swath of crimson cloth. "What is this?"

He was almost at the door. He turned back and looked at me again, acting as though nothing had just happened. "Guess."

I looked up, bewildered. "Why?"

He smiled darkly, and I knew he wouldn't answer. "The cloth is spelled to increase mental shields."

I slipped the cloth off, folding it carefully and tucking it into the waist of my skirt since I didn't have a pocket. In my hands I now held a wide knife belt. The matte black leather was tooled with delicate designs, so lightly pressed into the hide that you could only see them if you looked for them. I wrapped it around me, fastening the buckle, focusing on that instead of the kiss. A double sheath from each hip, positioned perfectly for the fastest draws. I tugged one knife free of its sheath, and immediately sliced myself on the honed blade. It was the same type of steel as that of the blade on the glaive. I looked back at the door, already knowing it would be empty.

He had disappeared, as usual, before I could respond. Is there something wrong with wanting to stay here? I care about the people here. Why does it feel like choosing to stay here will destroy this dream, even though, if I had been determined, I could have left at any time?

Yusuke popped his head into the kitchen. "Hey, we're gonna play some games. You coming?" I forced my melancholy thoughts away. Of course it's okay for me to make myself a place in this world. Just because I haven't bothered before doesn't mean I shouldn't.

"Yeah. Sure. I'll be right out."

He studied me for a second, and then smiled. "Just make sure you get out here soon, or we'll start without you. And nice belt." He disappeared without another word. I traced fingers over the soft leather, and headed for the living room, heart glowing with this unfamiliar warmth.

I was in the doorway when I felt the familiar cold shock run up my spine, followed by a surge of pain through my skull. I gasped, falling against the doorjamb as it repeated. _I'm back Koishii_. The voice swam through my head, stronger than Hiei's had ever been, shattering my defenses with a single breath.

Those cheerful faces turned to me, immediately becoming worried as I forced myself to stand up. _You do it, my love, or I will do it with you._ Scenes of blood and death were shoved unwillingly into my skull. I felt Hiei's energy tap on the outside edges of my awareness, asking permission to enter. I growled at him, pushing him away when he physically took a step closer to me.

Yusuke was the one that asked. "Kisu, what's wrong? Are you okay?"

I glared, scooping the glaive they had given me off the floor. "Of course I'm okay." I picked my way across the room to pull a coat out of the pile heaped in the corner. A bitter laugh tore from my throat before I could stop it, accompanied by a joyous one that rippled through my head. "I've just suddenly realized what an idiot I've been." I pulled the coat on, buttoning the front. I had half been expecting it. I shouldn't be surprised.

Another wave of power tore through the rei chains constricting my form, making my body tense. I was prepared for it now, though, so that was all it got out of me. I turned, lifting my chin, and faced them. _Destroy it, my darling. Ruin it or I will ruin them._ I had heard his voice like this many times before, but never had I so regretted the actions he commanded me to take. I could always ignore him, and try to continue living with these people, but…

_I will destroy everything you love if you do not do it yourself, Kisu._

And there it was. I loved this existence. I loved these people. My mind turned back to the kitchen, just minutes ago, and the voice whispered cruel threats in my ear. Maybe I care about one of them more than others, but now I don't have time to find out, and it's probably better that way. If I don't break what I had with them right now to protect them, and return myself to the hands of my torturing guardian, he'll hunt them down just to spite me.

Hate flared in my heart. It overflowed into my eyes and faces. Yusuke tried to reach out to me, to bring me back from wherever they thought I had gone. "Kisu, what's going on?" I snarled, and turned my hatred of Hakujou on them. If they thought it was directed at them…

Yusuke's hand jerked back. "What the…"

"Get away from me. Stay away from me." The pain I caused in them cut into my heart, slashing deeper into me than anything.

I stomped toward the door, and found Hiei blocking my path. Another image appeared in my head, superimposed over reality. For a moment I was starring at a half rotted corpse, not my housemate. I blinked past the image and my loathing jumped to new levels. "Move, Hiei." He remained still, eyes bewildered beneath his anger.

_What is going on, Kisu. I can feel something attacking you._

I glowered, yanking one of his knives from its sheath and advancing on him when he remained where he was. Nose to nose I repeated myself. "Move."

His face hardened. "Why?" He took a step forward, trying to force me back. "Why the sudden change of heart?"

I stepped by him, into the space he had just vacated, bringing the knife up to slice through his arm like butter. The tension dripped from the room. Nobody asked for another explanation. Hiei didn't react, not even checking the severity of the wound, ignoring the blood dripping to the floor.

I stepped out the door. It slammed shut behind me. The first white flakes of snow of the season fell from the black sky. Let them think that the past months have been an act. Let them think that I was finally showing me true colors. Let them think I hated them. That way it would be easier for them to shut every door on me.

"But it won't be, koishii," a deep voice murmured, stepping out of the shadows and settling a heavy cloak around my shoulders. "We won't be saying farewell to them for a while." Long arms enveloped me, lifting me up without protest before whisking us down the street. I had been a fool to think that Hakujou would ever tire of playing with me. And I had been a fool to give him such appetizing pieces to destroy. I withdrew my consciousness as he began to grin. "Welcome home, my dear. We've missed you."

* * *

There's no new vocab in there that I can think of... so I'll just skip that... Thank yous to Darkness for the bunny. We aren't quite sure how it randomly popped up in our conversation one day, but here it is. I will forever associate Hiei with this rabbit now.

**Darkness: **Though I probably deserved some yelling this time...

**ImParonoid:** :laughs: I think everyone but Hiei prefers Kisu when she's drunk.

**Dolphingirl:** :smirks: But the whole point was that it wasn't Hiei, and Kisu seemed to be more comfortable with the idea that it was Hiei than when she discovered it was Kurama.

**Aranou:** And this one was incredibly long by my usual standards. Just over ten full pages. I don't mind you using me in my C2. But thank you for asking. I'll almost always say yes, I just don't like it when people go ahead and do it without asking first. I know what you mean. I just figured out how I'm going to DO the next couple chapters in my head. Knowing is making me happy.

**May:** Merci for your review. I hope your eyes aren't red anymore!

**OneWhoWalksWithPigeons:** Aye, it's so tragic that she keeps getting drunk. Bad auther, what I'm I thinking, putting her in these cruel positions.

**Kamikaze:** Ahhh... no soda? Get soda! Fix your soda situation!

**Jasmine:** Here's one new button?

**Fire: **Books!

**Tiger: **I'm doing my best!

**Bloody Angel Rose: **:grins: Thanks.

**Pen: **Wee:glomps: You finished! Sorry about the update thing. Life's been uncooperative at the best.

**Niana:** :pokes: Um... I'm sorry? I didn't mean to make you feel left out. ... Again... life isn't being helpful in the writing department. But we're down to just one quarter of school left!

**Crazedcandie:** :winks: Hope you liked the new kitchen scene. Lots of stuff happens in that kitchen, ne?

**Twisted Mind and Soul: **Holler when it's posted. :winks: Don't want to make anyone jealous.

**Asilin:** :wrinkles nose: I know the feeling. Mmmm... I don't know where the idea came from but I like it.

**Yami Ichigo:** I'm much confused... but that's okay. It's not unusual. And the un-Kisu-like behavior would be the fault of the eggnog, therefore the fault of Yusuke, who failed to share the spikefullness info with anyone but himself. Mean guy... leaving the others to get hopelessly drunk. :shrugs: But it doesn't make demon Yusuke and less hot.


	32. Chapter ThirtyOne

I suppose you've all given up on my by now, ne? Don't do that quite yet. I'm finally feeling inspired again. And would appreciate it if a certain fellow writer didn't jynx me again by pointing out my lack of updates. /stares at Pen/ I had every intention of updating that following weekend, you know. I'm going to be posting edited chapters at some point, just so you don't get overly hyper and then realize that, no, I did not just updatea billion times. Sorry.

* * *

**Chapter 31**

**Hiei…**

A bedraggled Hiei dragged himself into the single, centuries old tree in this desert wasteland. It was an ancient, gnarled mess, now more dead than alive. It had faded away to gray, and the few leaves that still clung to its branches were bleached of color. Around the base tattered prayer flags clung to worn tombstones.

Hiei ignored it all, caring only that the tree protected his parched body from the wild wind that whipped across the harsh red sand and the white-hot sun that beat down unyieldingly. If the village this tree belonged to knew he was using their burial site as shelter, they would most likely try to kill him.

These thoughts didn't even occur to him. He was more concerned that he had finally located her, and what he should do next.

He shifted on his branch, holding his injured arm closer. The bandage that wrapped it was filthy, stained with dirt, blood, and other less appetizing substances. If he had paid any attention to the wound it would have been long healed.

But he had spent the last three weeks searching the far reaches of Makai, mind occupied with more important things than food or health.

A few hundred yards from him a simple village squatted, flourishing in a splash of lush green, oblivious to the dryness surrounding it. Just looking at it made his throat burn with thirst. Its poor exterior was deceiving, though, hiding the truth of the matter. He had quickly determined that the insides of these mud and straw huts were richly decorated by scanning them with his Jagan, and the few people he had seen wandering had been well dressed and groomed. It was quiet, and everything seemed relaxed. Considering the race that lived here it had a remarkably peaceful atmosphere.

Over the last few weeks he had dug up all of the old contacts he had let drop when pressed into service by Koenma. If not for his focused search he would have enjoyed the shocked, hesitant, and fearful attitudes that met his sudden reappearance at every bend of this journey. For a while he had not been able to find even a whisper as to where his hanyou had disappeared.

And then he had remembered the night she had been so emotional.

A name sprang to his mind with that thought. Hakujou.

As soon as he had started asking for information on Hakujou and the Blood tribes instead of the whereabouts of Kisuko his sources hadn't been able to pour out the facts and rumors fast enough. Apparently the tribes were something of a hot topic in the underworld. He just hadn't had reason to take interest in them before. He was taking a risk assuming that this was where she had gone, but he didn't have any better leads to go on.

The picture Hiei's sources had painted for him was very different than the one Kisu had believed and rambled about. These demons were a reclusive bunch, and very proud. They stuck to themselves, and were disdainful of newcomers. Most demons went out of their way to avoid venturing into the tribes' territory. Their wrath was an unstoppable force, matched only by their bloodlust and inventive means of revenge. Grudges were held for centuries, and tempers were quick. But they didn't get angry over needless things. They were, to an extent, fair. Yes, they kept slaves, for the purpose of slacking their blood hunger, but the slaves were treated well. Rumors did not say that they took out anger on them, as other slaveholders had been known to. The few that managed to escape and had not been hunted down reluctantly admitted that one could do much worse than be enslaved by a blood youkai. At least with the youkai you were insured clean clothes and three full meals a day. Stock needed to be healthy if they were to quench their master's thirst.

The species also sported an abundance of physic powers, including powers similar to his Jagan's and the ability to roll any mind with weak shields. It explained why Kisu had caught on to him so easily when they first met, if she had been dealing with it all since the time she was born, but had immediately made him wonder why she seemed to be lacking those abilities, which seemed to be a birthright here.

The tribe's brighter face was still heavily shadowed, but the one Kisu had faced was worse. The existence she had described had been the one reserved for those who had fallen from their graces. For Kisu, being born had forever condemned her to the wrong side. Because of her mother she had grown up seeing only the bad parts of her society and had never known the partially redeeming characteristics most of them possessed.

Thoughts of Kisu brought him back to his impromptu search, something that had begun three weeks prior. He had slipped off before they'd even had a chance to break the news to Koenma. He couldn't believe that she had harbored these dark feelings towards them for all the months she had spent living with him. During those days they had spent cooped up together inside his apartment, albeit unwillingly, he had searched her mind multiple times, and, looking back, he could find no memory of these feelings in her, or the telltale signs that they were hidden just outside his reach. Maybe it was that he didn't want to believe, and wouldn't until he could discover why she had run so hastily and suddenly. He didn't think, if she planned it, that this would have been her style. She would have slipped off when no one was around to miss her. The confrontation wasn't like her, and he needed to know what was going on.

He cursed, clenching his fists. Maybe it was that he had just begun to come to terms with his feelings. He released the tension and slumped against the rough bark, pushing away the raging emotions. He had survived without her before. He didn't need her sardonic humor and constant suspicion. He could live without her, just as contentedly as he had before she popped into his life.

But that didn't explain why he was here.

_She betrayed me_, he told himself. She had broken the alliance the two of them had made, something he had taken seriously even if she hadn't. He did not pledge himself lightly. And now his excuse for rushing off in hunt of her was to find out the reason for this broken word before getting his revenge. He hoped it was an explanation that the others would believe of him.

As for him, he had to believe that was what had him sitting in the middle of nowhere, in worse shape than he had sank for decades. It was that, or go crazy thinking about the alternative.

A flurry of movement drew his eyes to the single hut not within that green haven. A moment later a gaunt-faced Kisu flew through the door, blood streaming from a cut above her eyebrow.

For a second Hiei was frozen, but, as Kisu rose from the ground and snarled at the empty doorway, arm limp at her side, he came back to his senses and dragged himself up to the next branch and out of sight. Power flared unbidden in his Jagan, and for once he welcomed it instead of fighting to harness it. Purple light glowed through his bandanna as images flowed into his mind.

A tall, dark figure appeared in the door, face contorted in rage. Behind him a young male neko whimpered and blubbered, unable to get away from the steely grip on his arm. "Kisuko!"

The girl snarled again and circled away from him.

He shoved long strands of dark hair his face impatiently and hauled the terrified demon forward. "Damn it, koishii. You haven't eaten in a week." He marched towards her and she stumbled away clumsily, tripping over nothing and falling. The weeping neko clawed at Haku's hand and strained to escape. Hakujou's long legs carried him across the space before Kisu could even begin to stand. "I have offered you the best clothes." He kneeled and yanked her back against his silk clad chest, other still controlling the neko. The sleeve of her tattered blouse tore and the neck laces of his black shirt scratched against her cheek. "I offer you the best meals, the best slaves." He dragged the slave across her lap and pressed its wrist to her mouth. The neko's keening rose in pitch. She bared her teeth and turned her head away angrily. The neko was younger than her, barely more than a boy. "You starve yourself. You grow weaker with each passing day, and still you refuse to quench your thirst unless I agree to provide you with something not from a live vein." Kisu continued to refuse the whimpering demon's blood. Hakujou snarled and threw her to the ground before standing and kicking her away from him.

She flew across the open arena from the force of it and hit the wall of the hut with a loud bang. The neko closed its eyes and curled into a ball on the ground. Hakujou ignored it, focused entirely on his wounded ward.

Kisu slid to the ground and remained in a heap for a moment before slowly rising, gray eyes staring defiantly from beneath matted black curls. Her energy flared and the scrape over her eye, plus the new ones on her chin and arms, faded. Her arm popped and straightened as her face paled and tightened further.

Haku's voice rose in a steady stream of curses uttered in their native tongue, one Kisu had forgotten she knew until returning to the village. "I offer you the best training! You stand and allow yourself to be beaten, making no move to protect yourself! When I offer you healers to heal the wounds you allow yourself to acquire because of your bullheaded refusal to defend yourself you refuse them, instead wasting energy you don't have to spite me!" He again marched over to Kisu. "I took away your pills, deciding that it was time for you to return to your full power, but you cling to this false shape." He reached out to trace a hand over her cheek. She flinched away from the hand sluggishly.

His voice softened as he began to stroke her cheek. "I know you think I mean only to make you suffer." His eyes hardened and his tone became edged again. "But I only want to strengthen you. I am grooming you to become a prominent member of this tribe, when they finally do deem you worthy of their attention." His head began to drop to give her a gentle kiss, but she reacted more strongly, snarling and bringing her arm up in an instinctive block.

He let her slip by, merely watching as she tripped over her own feet in her rush to get away from him. "I don't know why you fight me, Kisu. If you would give me what you gave that fire demon of yours I could make your life a lot easier."

Something slipped in her eyes, making her more than the feral beast she had appeared to be. "I already told you, Haku. There was nothing between Hiei and me. _Ever_." Her voice was gravely, rough from disuse. "And there never would have been. I hate Hiei almost as much as I do you."

Hakujou smiled tightly and his power pulsed, matching the energy that had attacked Kisu the night she had left. "That, my dear, is something I do not believe." He flashed towards her at a speed that matched Hiei's and caught her in a headlock. "And does nothing to answer why you refuse my gifts."

Kisu gasped from the lack of air. "Do you really want to know, you asshole?"

"Yes, I would." He even dropped her and took a step back, allowing her to regain her breath.

She glared at him, remaining on all fours. "I'm surprised you have to ask, kisama. You threatened my friends. You tore me from my life when I had finally found somewhere I fit. You're training me as some kind of tool to use against them."

"What gives you that idea, love?"

Kisu laughed bitterly and slowly rocked back onto her heels. "You've all but told me, Hakujou. Why should I think differently?"

His smile grew, warming his face slightly. His rei pulsed stronger. "I wouldn't want to disappoint you, if that's what you really have your heart set on."

The laughter died on her lips and she stared. She finally sighed. "I don't know why you're bothering. I don't mean anything to them, especially after how I left. It's going to hurt me more than it will them."

The smile grew darker. "That is the point, Kisu. To teach you that caring does nothing but weaken you. I've tried to show you this before, but maybe now that someone you love is involved the lesson will actually stick."

Her face flooded with raw emotion, none of it good. "I… do not… love him." The growl issued through clenched teeth. Fingers flexed at the end of limp arms. "You're denser than I remember if you think I'm that stupid."

Haku tilted his head back and laughed joyously, barely remaining in the realm of the sane. "Your denial confirms it, dear, no matter what you may believe." His eyes flashed dangerously. "And I must punish you for your weakness."

She lifted her chin, showing no sign of breaking for him, just like every other time he had attempted to bend her to his will. "I never said you shouldn't."

Haku's displeasure increased, and his face again contorted with the rage that had not been present for the last ten minutes. His power flowed out and surrounded her, becoming visible as a yellowish-green light. Similar wisps began to rise from her skin.

A sharp intake of breath indicated that it was not a painless process for her. "What…"

The melodic laugh dripped from his lips once more. "Returning your true form, Kisuko. If you had done it yourself it could have been painless." One of his tendrils of power pulled back before snapping out and striking her. A small pain sound escaped her as energy was pulled from her skin. More tentacles converged on her, whipping out again and again until she was barely visible through the energy haze and blood coated her body. Her image crackled and began to waver. She clutched at her throat, unable to breath, but refused to allow another sound to escape. Her eyes roamed wildly, unable to remain fastened on him through the haze, and finally began to fill with real fear.

He passed through the cloud with no resistance and drew her to her feet with a single touch, as though she weighed nothing. "Now… that is the look I have been waiting years to see." She struggled to speak and retaliate through the pain but managed only a whimper. The energy buoyed her up in the air, drawing her away from his touch and the ground. "Don't worry. It won't hurt much longer." Her eyes widened as old wounds she had shifted away began to reopen. New blood began to drip from these recently hidden, but essentially ignored abrasions, and unhealed bones shifted. Rarely seen scars of all shapes, sizes, and origins cascaded over her skin like perverted artwork. Haku just watched, enjoying her suffering.

She rose higher and higher, the pressure of Hakujou's power against her will to remain unbound growing stronger and harder. Her eyes rolled back into her head and she suddenly convulsed. Her limbs, even those broken, stiffened and the storm of energy around her disappeared, sucked into her being like a vacuum. She continued to rise, twitching as small bolts of the green power danced across her skin until, finally, a throat-tearing scream was torn from her and the last remnants of the chains containing her exploded, blasting through her pores with searing pain. Her form shattered. Two blood-red tears dripped from the corners of her eyes as her form twitched one more time and then plummeted to the ground. She landed at the same instant the full force of the power ripped away from her essence after being imbedded in it for so long rushed back at Hakujou, forcing him to his knees with the force of the collision. Dust billowed upward and the ground buckled as she slammed into it, unable to slow her descent at all.

After a moment Hakujou stood, unaffected except for a new layer of dirt, and carefully descended the side of the crater. He stood over his ward and studied her. His lips twitched. "Except for those shifter eyes you could pass for your poor, deceased mother, koishii."

Hostile amber eyes blinked and glared fiercely at him. Her black curls had melted away to a full-bodied mass of blue-gray waves. To swaths of dark blue set off her face. She opened her mouth to reply but coughed instead, causing blood to dribble from the corner of her lips.

Hakujou shook his head. "Tsk, tsk, love. This won't do." He crouched and lifted her effortlessly, ignoring the gasp, dilated eyes, and bowed back and neck indicating that this only added to the intense pain her broken body was experiencing. He also disregarded how the abundant amount of blood smeared across his fine clothing, ruining them. Her arms and legs hung uselessly. "I'll find someone to fix you up."

He smiled at her fondly as she forced her head up to glare at him again. Her lips moved soundlessly. "What, darling? I couldn't hear you." He leaned his ear closer to her.

Her lips pulled back in disgust, showing off her new fangs as she growled the words again. "I… despise… you."

He chuckled and stood, starting for the village. "Is that all?"

She hissed as he jostled her around. "No…"

"No?"

"No," she repeated. "I despise you so much that someday I swear I will tear your entrails out and force you to watch as I feed them to the birds."

He only laughed. "Finally, you're beginning to sound like a tribe member I can be proud of." She snorted, but gasped again as he suddenly shifted her to one arm to knock on the door of one of the outmost houses, one just within that lovely circle of green. "I have no doubt you will someday come for me, love." He placed a finger against her cracked lips when she tried to speak. "But first you must survive our next game." The door opened and Hakujou handed her to the man with pale-green hair standing there before marching past them and into the house's shadows. He smiled, tracing a hand over her cheek and planting a kiss on her blood-smeared forehead. "I expect this one to be especially fun. We'll begin training again as soon as soon as Iyaku has worked his magic on you and you have eaten." He cut off her protests, eyes darkening. "I am done playing nice, Kisu. From now on you will do exactly as I say." He nodded to Iyaku. Iyaku pushed the door closed, healing powers already rising.

Back in the burial tree a shadow blinked and broke from his trance. He shivered as the last vestiges of his energy left with the fleeting light of the quickly disappearing sun. His breath puffed out as white steam, the air now growing chilly without the solar rays. Without a backward glance he slipped from his hiding spot and began the long trek back the way he had come. Why should he look back? He already had the image of Kisuko's resigned face burned into his mind's eye.

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/glances at review count/ You know... that number jumped a hundred in a scarily short amount of time... /grins/ Arigatou! 

**Glossary**

**Iyaku:** Medicine (you'll find out more about people soon)

(reminder) **Hakujou: **Creul

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**REVIEW RESPONSES**

**Kamikaze:** Yay! Two liters. Get hyper, and eat your yummy food. Eh.. yeah. Couldn't avoid that. Haku had to show up sooner or later.

**Madoka:** /raises eyebrow/ As do we all. Fanfiction is essential to our development. And as long as there's untied plot points do you think I'm going to be capable of leaving this story alone?

**TheMoxie:** You had to wait a little longer than expected, but here's the chapter.

**Dragonmount:** Thank you. Hope you enjoyed this chapter too, though there was definetly a lack of twisty-ness in this ending.

**Draco-is-a-hottie:** /twitch/ I'm editing that part out.

**ImParanoid:** /sweatdrops/ I'm sorry/tries not to laugh/ I hope you haven't given up on me.

**Asilin:** /pokes/ I know, I'm not one to talk, but do you think you'll have any chapters up anytime soon/smiles/ And thanks. I had an awesome time thinking up the gifts.

**Pen: **/checks email again/ I see no hounding emails, JYNXER PERSON! This is the only time I've gone a month without updating! My worst before this was three weeks! I got my worst block ever, for a week and a half, then I was in Canada, and then Maine! But I have a laptop now so I _can _get some writing done while I'm there now... thank god... /loses train of thought and laughs/ Do you honestly think I would still be breathing if Kisu thought I was putting her in that kind of situation? And she would kill Haku without blinking, maybe... (I can't figure out if she's a killer or not) and that would mess up the plot majorly. /pokes/ Definetly email me, even if only to hound me.

**Niana Kuonji** /sweatdrops/ At least wait until I'm done using him to put any of those plots in motion...

**Dallas:** Hiei doesn't share much. But you do get a glimpse of it here.

**Darkness:** /winces/hides/ Hopefully not as long this time. GAh! I have to go back to school Monday/pouts/

**Iaragon: **/glomps/ Merci/goes back to normal/grins/ I have fun torturing my characters. I had to give him a torturable demeanor.

**Katana Blade: **/sigh/ Yes. Poor Kisu has left. /eyes glint/ How long until things are fixed?

**Ginnitsune: **Nobody seems to realize that yelling to make me update seems to make me freeze up... And thank you. I'm glad you like it.

**Dolphingirl32173:** You're definetly not alone in the hating category. I think almost everyone else does as well... though I'm actually starting to grow rather fond of him.

**YoukoMana:** Thanks! I hope you keep reading.

**Fate: **/poke/ S'okay. And it doesn't matter. /grins/ As long as I get your response at some point. /laughs/ Were you yelling again this chapter?

**Fire: **/chokes on laughter/ Ah.. yes.. that does seems rather typical of you.

**Ciardra:** /hums happily/ I'm not telling. And you'll find out soon enough.

**Jasmine Reinier: **Do you believe that you're one ofthe onlypeople that commented on Hiei's bunny/sighs/ Oh well, I guess that's what the bunny gets for showing up right before a nasty little twist. Hopefully the new button will appear soon...

**tigerhw114:** What can I say? I like my cliffs, as long as I'm not the one falling off them.

**OneWhoWalksWithPigeons: **/watches forthcoming distasters/ You may be right about that weapons thing.

**Crazedcandie:** I couldn't help it. I stink at staying inside the lines.

**SilentStorm2000: **Merci, and I hope you continue to enjoy the story.

**Arano honou:** Now you just have to wait to find out how long he's going to be here. /wishes she knew what happened to her copy of Monty Python.../

That was a lot of reviews... /collapses in exhaustion/


	33. Chapter ThirtyTwo

Clearing it up for someone. Kisu still has white skin. It's the two swaths of hair around her face that are dark blue. I'll fix that description at some point, but not until I've finished the entire story. And I am now officially life-less again. All of my lovely plays have met their timely demises… and I am again turning to my reading and writing for the comfort of having something, anything! to do!

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**Chapter 32**

**Koenma…**

Five weeks. It had been five weeks and still they had made no advances on any part of this complicated case. Two individuals under close watch by Koenma himself had disappeared without a trace, and he had yet to come up with a reliable lead on either of them. The prince's formidable spy network had proved useless, and those associated with the case's stars had given him no peace.

The constant clamor of voices and telephones picked up another notch as Koenma's voice roared over the din. These weeks had been filled with busy work, anything to make it seem like they might be accomplishing something. "No! You cannot just go to Makai and search for them, Yusuke!" George the ogre hovered behind Koenma, waiting to get his attention. The prince was too absorbed with his yelling to give him even a glance. "I don't care how angry you get. I will not clear the mission!"

Yusuke stopped his pacing and slammed his fists into the desktop. "Then what am I supposed to do! I'm sick of sitting around and doing nothing, and so are the others."

George tried again, switching the heavy file he was holding to his other arm so he could tap on his boss' shoulder. "Uh…um… sir?" The prince immediately spun on him, still channeling huge quantities of anger. "How many times do I have to tell you, George! I am only taking relevant file reports at the moment! If it is not part of the Tanira/Jaganshi case I want it put aside and saved for later!" Koenma's eyes burned as he turned back on the teenager. "And you! You wish to throw your life away when you have no hope of finding Hiei?"

The boy's brown eyes flared as he tilted his chin determinedly. "We have just as much chance as any of those fancy spies of yours, brat. More, since we actually took the time to know him"

"And what of Kisu? Do you offer to do that job for me, as well?"

Yusuke glanced at the shaking ogre still trying to get Koenma's attention. "We'll give you one more week." His eyes threatened pain. "But if you don't have anything by then I don't give a damn about the clearance." His eyes darkened, but underneath it all there was pain. "As for Kisu, we thought we could trust her." He sighed angrily. "I still don't know what to do about her, and it's been a month. I can't figure out if it was all an act of if something happened." He shook his head desolately. "You will have something the next time you call me." He met Koenma's glare, and a small shiver ran down the ruler's spine with those growled words; a promised threat without voice. Yusuke's face twitched once more in disgust around sad and empty eyes before he turned away, ending the argument with a quick snap and without giving Koenma enough time to respond. Two betrayals within minutes of each other were hard enough to deal with. He would not listen to someone who didn't care lecture him about not trying to fix what he could.

The poor ogre clutched the thick folders to his chest, jumping out of the way as Yusuke stormed out, closely followed by another frantic and rushing office worker. It might only be busy work that they were doing, but there was so much of it that Koenma had moved himself from his secluded office to the center of the main workroom. With all the messengers constantly coming in search of him to give him meaningless tidbits of information it made more sense to deal with the constant noise and confusion that make them all squeeze into that small room. The man had also had to resort to using his teenage form constantly. If he had remained a toddler he would have risked being trampled at every twist and turn of the day.

The prince mumbled under his breath, not commenting on the departing teen's words, and returned to picking up phone after phone, muttering only a few words before slamming them down again and reaching for the next. The look he sent George when he realized he was still there was not friendly. "Buzz off, ogre," he snarled.

"But… but, sir!" George ducked around the desk again, blue cheeks flushed as he tried to regain his boss' attention. "I really think you should look at these! This case could turn into something bad!" He froze, swallowing nervously as Koenma paused in lifting another phone and fixed him with a glare.

"No. Give them to one of the other departments."

"But… but!"

George was cut off again as a new herd of workers converged on Koenma just as he finally lifted the phone to his ear.

"Sir, we've just received the report from Division A!"

"Sir, Division T requests clearance to move deeper into Zone 9!"

"Sir, can you sign this?"

"Sir…"

Koenma's eye twitched, giving minute notice of the forthcoming explosion. "I don't care!" The ogres squealed, one of them dropping their armful of papers. All ducked behind George as the papers swirled and exploded into the air, hiding from the prince's wrath, but scared to leave before he finished chewing them out. "If it's important, come and tell me, but I'm tired of hearing all this pointless information!" One of the ogres began to blubber and they all nodded. He waved the phone at them, motioning for them to get out of his face, and they scattered, leaving poor George all alone again.

An amused voice trickled from the receiver and Koenma hastily returned it to his ear. "I apologize for that," he said quickly. When the voice asked if those statements also applied to him he added a fast, "No, Taihou."

"Besides," he continued, relaxing slightly as the voice laughed, "you never call without reason, and the reason must be great for you to call." That joking voice said something else, and our graceful prince almost fell over. "What!" Koenma exclaimed. A tired grin spread across his face a moment later. "That's wonderful. Thank you, friend. Keep working. I hope to hear from you soon." The voice flippantly departed, and Koenma carefully returned the phone to its cradle

"Well, it looks like the ningen officials have finally turned the case over to our undercover team."

You could have heard a pin drop in the silence that followed. All work had ceased, workers standing frozen mid-task to stare at the smiling Koenma. It had been weeks since anything other than a frown had graced his lips, so it wasn't surprising that they would be surprised by this sudden change in their moody boss.

"Wha-what, Koenma, sir?"

The smile grew to a grin. "You heard me, ogre. We finally have the case, officially, by those pesky human standards, and we can get to work." He glanced at the room in large, and no one could help but flinch, expecting the cold glare instead of calm smile. "What are you all waiting for? I want Tanira's father called! Make sure he knows that we are now in charge of his case so that we don't get any more of those rerouted calls meant for the ningens! Get me all the files! Review all the reports! Find out how far they had gotten and get on damage control! Remember! Don't breach our secrecy!"

The room exploded with renewed movement and effort, the energy levels higher than they had been since this started. Getting the case didn't change anything; it was the least important thing on their list of things to accomplish. It was that they had completed anything on that list of unattainable goals that created this seemingly unpoppable bubble of good spirit.

In the chaotic frenzy no one noticed a black shadow as it slipped through a carelessly open door. No one noticed as it slipped quietly between running bodies. No one noticed it stop behind Koenma. And only Koenma heard it clear its throat.

Koenma turned, voice agitated. "Fine, ogre. Just give me the file if it's that important…" His words trailed off. "Dear god," he whispered. The unpoppable bubble popped.

Koenma held the office door open, motioning for Hiei to enter. "Take a seat, Hiei," he said, not expecting the demon to accept.

"Hn." Hiei limped from the doorway and sank into one of Koenma's chairs with about the same amount of grace Yusuke or Kuwabara might have shown.

Koenma cleared his throat and sat at his desk. It was the first time he had returned to this room since the start of the case, and it was visible in the thin layer of dust that covered everything.

"I suppose you've come to kill me, yes?" he said with dry humor and a straight face.

Hiei rolled his eyes with another snort before letting them slide shut. "You have nothing to fear from me, toddler. If I were going to kill you I would have done it a long time ago. And I wouldn't have waited for you to hit rock bottom."

Koenma smiled thinly at the response as narrowed eyes took in Hiei's condition and assessed him. Not only was he sitting in the prince's presence, something he had never done before, but he also appeared to be sleeping. Koenma had never seen Hiei at anything but full alert. His black clothes were torn, faded, and dusty, clearly displaying numerous bloodstains, probably a combination of his, and others who had met unfortunate ends on his sword. His cloak was missing entirely and his usually impeccably kept sword was equally coated. Messy bandages peeked through the torn clothing.

This was not the Hiei that had disappeared four weeks ago. That had been his mind's first response when he turned and found not his annoying assistant behind him, but his missing probationer.

Koenma resisted the urge to knead his temples with his fingers as he felt the start of a migraine begin to build. "Hiei, why did you come back?" he asked, getting right to what he wanted to know most.

The silence before he answered was prolonged. "Shouldn't you be asking where I went, baby?"

Koenma allowed himself to run a hand over his eyes. "I know where you went, Hiei. You tracked down Kisu, understandably. The others told me that you had gotten very close to her, so this turn of events must have been very shocking. I would appreciate it if you shared her exact location at some point, if you know it, but at the moment I would first like to know why I am not sending out a team to drag you back in."

"We were not close," Hiei snapped immediately.

"Then why the disappearance? Why the quick response?"

The silence was longer this time, and from the way his head lolled Koenma began to believe that Hiei really had fallen asleep. When Hiei finally spoke his voice was unexpectedly quiet. "Why does it matter, prince, as long as I'm one less thing for your father to yell at you about?"

Koenma sighed, the constant weight of responsibility pressing down harder on his shoulders. "However things may appear to you, Hiei," he answered slowly, "I do worry when one of my agents disappears into thin air for a month."

Hiei's harsh voice interrupted him. "How many times to I have to correct you, brat?" He struggled to sit with a thinly veiled wince. "I am the criminal you put on probation and forgot about."  
Koenma's face hardened. "If that's the way you see me, then why did you come back?"

Hiei faltered in the middle of standing. "I don't have to tell you that."

Koenma steepled his fingers. "No, you don't. But I would appreciate it."

Hiei opened his mouth to snarl another nasty reply, but seemed to think better of it, since he stopped short and stormed for the door instead.

"Leave again, Hiei, and I will have to arrest you. This is your one and only chance to avoid it."

Hiei's limping progress slowed.

Koenma continued. "I will send Yusuke, Kurama, and Kazuma after you. You won't be able to handle them in this state."

Koenma had expected the goad about his less-than-perfect condition at the moment to anger him, but instead Hiei stopped completely, staring at the ground.

"Have you even wondered how the others took your disappearance, Hiei?"

The demon didn't answer.

The intercom beeped. Koenma sighed and turned it on. "Koenma, sir, Yusuke has arrived, with the others, as you asked. Should I send them in?"

Koenma glanced at the still silent Hiei before answering. "Okay. Send them in." He rested his chin on his hands as the system turned off with another beep. "They'll be here in a few minutes, Hiei. Do you have anything you wish to say now?"

For a moment Hiei's face remained impassive, and then he opened his mouth. "There isn't much I can tell you. It was not her choice to leave, but I don't think any of us really believed that. I would tell you where she is, but I don't remember the location. I was living on instinct, following power, not remembering where the path led. The most defined information I have is that she is with Hakujou." Koenma waited patiently for more, but that was all he would get. Footsteps and shouting could be heard coming nearer. Faint dread flashed under that carefully erected mask and he snarled at Koenma. "Try running that through your database, brat. See if you have more luck than you did with me." Hiei darted for the door, hand reaching for the doorknob to let him escape into nothingness again, just as it slammed open and Yusuke stormed in, power almost crackling in the air around him. Hiei was thrown to the wall, and caught himself from falling as red began to bleed its painful way through his makeshift bandages. The door swung uselessly, half ripped off its hinges.

"Koenma, you dog! What can be so unimportant that you have to drag me here twice in one day!" Yusuke's voice thundered through the room.

"Now, Yusuke!" Botan rushed in behind him, trying to calm him. He hadn't heard the news yet. "Is this really necessary? Just think for a moment!"

Kuwabara jogged in behind them, out of breath. "Yeah. Come one, Urameshi. The kid might be a brat, but there's nothing to be angry over," he huffed. "Maybe he actually has something for us today."

Kurama was the only one that arrived with an air of dignity. "That is doubtful." His eyes took in the room in one sweep and immediately noticed what the others where still oblivious to. Shock flashed across his face, making his eyes gold momentarily, before he was back in control. "Then again, one never knows when life will surprise us." He flashed a Youko-like smirk at Hiei, undertoned with relief. The demon was collapsed against the wall, good arm clutched to his stomach as his other hung limp and cold sweat beaded on his eyebrow, and seemed more than just a little uncomfortable with the current predicament.

Yusuke spun and glowered at his teammates. "Don't take his side, damnnit! Don't tell me you like sitting around doing nothing!" He flung an arm at Koenma. "At least if he ordered us to hunt them down we would have an excuse to search for them!" Tears welled in Yusuke's eyes and his face crumpled. He collapsed to his knees, one hand covering his face as he struggled to rein in his emotions. "At least then we would know what went wrong."

Horror at the scene unfolding before him flickered over Hiei's features. A look from Kurama told him he could end it.

Kuwabara stepped forward and placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Hey, man. We all know what you mean." Kazuma cleared his throat. "We all knew how much he loved her, though. Would you have stuck around if Keiko suddenly tried to cut you up like that?"

Hiei's voice cut the air like butter. "I do not love her." Determination blazed now. "And she did not love me. If I cared I would say she deserves better."

Yusuke's head jerked up and he was halfway to his feet and fighting position when his eyes locked on the dark figure still unable to move from the wall without falling. His eyes took in his comrade's injuries in seconds, finally resting on the arm Kisu had attacked. "Bullshit…" The barely audible word dropped into the dark pit of silence between them. "I call your bluff."

Arrogance flared in his crimson eyes. He stood and forced himself to walk to Yusuke, putting him almost face to face with the stooped teen. "You dare say you know my feelings better than I do?"

Koenma cleared his throat, interrupting before Yusuke could get himself killed…again. "If you hadn't come in yelling, Yusuke, I would have been able to tell you that, yes, we do have a lead today. And he needs to be taken down the infirmary immediately, as I'm sure you can see."

Shocked tears were dripping from Botan's eyes, and Kuwabara was as white as if he'd just seen a ghost. "Yeah," Yusuke muttered. "Three-eyes has all but gone and got himself killed on us."

Kurama stifled a laugh. Hiei turned confused eyes on him, barely holding onto his anger at the mocking. "Believe it or not," he said in his rich, smooth voice, "this is the cheeriest Yusuke's been in weeks." He approached and laid a hand on Hiei's shoulder, mirroring Kuwabara and Yusuke. "Come on, let us get you fixed up." Confusion reigned supreme on the apparition's face. "I'm sure any other news Koenma has can wait."

Yusuke ruffled the demon's hair with a watery laugh. "Yeah, 'cause no offense, man, but you look like shit."

Hiei growled, "Don't touch me, Detective," and only earned another laugh.

"It's nice to see you haven't changed completely."

"Hn."

"Kurama's right. Let's go get you fixed." Hiei's protests were ignored as Kurama and Yusuke positioned themselves on either side of him and steered him towards the door.

"Hiei." He looked back, and Koenma gave the sullen faced Hiei a few moments to compose himself before repeating that most important question. "Why did you come back?"

Hiei's eyes moved over the faces in the room, even Kuwabara, who had intelligently decided to stay out of Hiei's reach. "Toddler, you're not using your head." Weariness so deep only someone who had lived centuries could feel it filled his eyes. "Where else can I go? Where else will they except me even after the horrible things I have done?" He shrugged the helping hands off him and started to limp for the door on his own. "I won't run again. I'm too tired." He fixed his gaze on Kurama, someone who would understand this next statement. "I don't have the energy to return to the roaming life." The gaze sprang back to Koenma, unnerving in it's steadiness. "I have told you what I know. I will help you find her and save her, so that you can give her a chance at a better life. Let that be the end of this discussion."

George scuttled past the broken office door, skidded to a halt and returned. "Oh! Thank God! There you are, Koenma!" He was still clutching the enormous file he had attempted to give Koenma earlier and was hopping frantically from foot to foot. "We've gotten another note from this Hakujou fellow. And someone has broken into the vault! And I really wish you would just look at the file, sir!"

The three people in the room who recognized that name froze.

"Ogre," Koenma said carefully, "repeat that name."

George, puzzled, ran forward and dropped the file on the desk before flipping it open and searching for one very specific paper. "Why, yes, sir. Of course. Just let me find the letter." He held it up.

_Our Highly Esteemed Prince Koenma, _

_Your team is cordially invited to participate in the Tournament of Artifacts. A detailed explanation of this event has been included. We would appreciate your response, sent to the enclosed location, as soon as possible._

_With our most sincere wishes,_

_XXX Hakujou  
__XXX Kisuko Tanira

* * *

_

REVIEW RESPONSES 

**TeikaiAnshou114:** More sadness to come, unfortunately. Things must get worse before they improve.

**Arano Honou: **His death shall be… his death… The details are still forming, but he'll get a taste of his own medicine, though not neccassarily from Kisu.

**Fire-Crow:** :winces: Procrastination is a sport. And we both excel at it.

**Darkness Shall Set You Free: ** You know, we really need to do something about that annoying narrator…

**Thoughtless Darkness:** Bunny rabbit, bunny rabbit. Ah! That was your question at the top. And I think this chapter answered some of the others in a roundabout way.

**Fate's Child Destiny's Friend:** :grin: That's what you get for telling me about it. And yes, the pleasure should probably go to Kisu…

**ImParanoid:** :edges away from the evil rabid flying gummi bunnies of doom:

**Pen Against Sword:** :grins: Hear that, Hiei? More people are calling you an Aisuhana. :hums: That must mean it's true.

**Hidari Ushiro:** Thank you, and I roleplay too, when I can find ones I want to do and people that stick with it. That, or make myself ask to join if I'm avoiding it but really want to…

**OneWhoWalksWithPigeons: **Tombstones bad…. And reviewing what…?

**Aisuhana:** :bows dramatically: I thank you for your praise.

**Silent Storm 2000:** What can I say? I'm a detail whore.

**Kamikaze-Watermellon: **Whee! Chocolate!

**SilverDragon63:** Yes, yes he is. And it gets worse, I'm afraid.

**Dragonmount:** Nope. Poor Kisu.

**Gothic-ember: **Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe he thinks she gave up on him.

**Ciardra:** Of course he isn't. He _always_ lets his wounds fester and be hurtful.

**Jasmine Reinier: **Hiei: No! My rabbit!

Dark::sweatdrops: I wouldn't do that if I were you… He hurts people who do that. :shows off bruises:

**Asilin Kheldarson:** Gah… School… Bad… I'll wait patiently… And I would kill those exams for you if I knew how.

**Luna's (the moon) lady-love:** We'll see.

**Madoka:** I die when I can't write.

**Niana Kuonji:** Patience, patience. 'Tis a virtue, and you have to wait to see how things unfold.

**YoukoKurama321:** Thanks for the review, Youko.


	34. Chapter ThirtyThree

Fanfiction server! Gah! Why can't you work when I want you to!

(sigh) Whatever. On a brighter note... HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY, FIRE-CHAN! (evil smile)

**

* * *

Chapter 33**

**Kurama…**

A portal sprang open and dumped the wrestling Yusuke and Kuwabara to the ground from a height of three feet. Just as he might have won their friendly match Kuwabara rolled to the side with a nauseous groan and a sickly green face. "Argh…" he moaned. "I'll never get used to those things."

Yusuke laughed obnoxiously as he stood, brushing red dirt from his jeans. "If you can't even handle the portal how are you going to handle the tournament?" he asked with a sneer.

"Oh, stuff it, Urameshi. You're just mad 'cause I was about to beat you."

Yusuke snorted as Hiei and Kurama appeared in the light behind him. "Like that could ever happen," the teen said disdainfully.

Both dropped from the unexpected height soundlessly and effortlessly, barely even causing a disturbance to the dry dirt under their feet. Hiei wore the same stony expression he had since his return. And Kurama's, though darkly amused, held less compassion than it had when this began. The other two, however, had sprung right back. The knowledge that Kisu hadn't left willingly and they were on their way to save her satisfied their dark moods and allowed them to return to normal. Neither considered that the girl they tried to rescue might not be the same by the time they got there.

Five months ago Hiei returned. They still didn't know much about where he had gone, because he claimed he couldn't remember, and, because of new time restraints, had to accept this as the truth because they didn't have time to drag it out of him. Within minutes of their discovery of Hiei's return they were forced to open another case; a case that intersected with that of Kisuko in so many ways that they became essentially one. This was the Hakujou case, more often called, The Tournament of Artifacts.

And what a bang it had started with. At the same instant Koenma had finally acknowledged the case might be something he should look at, the Chalice of Blood was stolen from the Reikai vault. The months following were plagued with a string of rare artifact thefts, each committed by a different group and connected only by the note always left in place of the stolen item.

_This artifact has been taken to fulfill the entry requirements of the Tournament of Artifacts. To see your possession safely returned the Reakai Tentai must participate in and win our game. We request their honored presence. _

XXX Hakujou  
_XXX Kisuko Tanira_

The theft locations stretched far across Makai, Ningenkai, some of which, following the first, had even successfully penetrated the vaults of Reikai. And the detectives had failed to recover a single one.

After three months of failure Koenma finally admitted defeat and sent them to Genkai, giving them only two months to heal wounds and train greater heights.

"What did Koenma give us again?" Yusuke asked out of the blue, staring across the red desert that stretched endlessly out from them. The only difference between their location and any other on the horizon was a mid-sized boulder.

"The Mirror of Light," Kurama responded, eyes gold as the scents of Makai permeated his nose. "It prevents spells from affecting us, so it serves a double purpose as long it is with us." His eyes slowly melted back to emerald. "Koenma has traced a number of the residual energy signatures at theft locations to some of the most powerful spell casters in his dossiers."

"Huh…" What a boring answer. He kind of wished he hadn't asked. Except for the powerful casters. That could prove interesting in a fight.

"Hey, isn't this were the tournament's supposed to be?" Kuwa suddenly asked.

The desert was eerily silent under its overcast sky. "Yes," Kurama said slowly, tasting the air again. How long since he last smelt this sweet air? Too long, surely. "I suppose it's merely a checkpoint, a precaution to insure we aren't bringing a tail of goons to disrupt the sport."

"Huh…" Kuwabara's next question was a little more alarming. "What's wrong with Hiei?"

"What?" Kurama's distant attitude and enjoyment of his home world disappeared. "Where is he?" The fox spun around and found the koorime balanced on the boulder, entire body stiff and eyes wide.

"It's the same desert," Hiei mumbled.

Kurama narrowed his eyes at him. "What are you talking about, Hiei?"

The demon tilted his head back and pulled in a long breath of the air. "It's this place."

Kurama took a step towards him. "Hiei…"

"I suppose he really did follow me then."

The entire scene froze. Heads swiveled to the center, where their portal had been. A young woman wearing a dark purple silk yukata over black knee-length leggings was suddenly where there had been no one. Her blue-tinged hair was pulled back in a loose braid that hit her mid-back, and hostile ambers shone out of a familiar face.

Grins split across Yusuke and Kuwabara's faces. "Kisu! Almost didn't recognize you with the new face!" Yusuke sprang at her to grab her in a friendly headlock, as he would have a handful of months ago. The cold eyes stopped him short.

"You will not touch me." Surprise flashed across Yusuke's face as power pulsed from her, accompanying her words. Her weapons, unnoticed before, became suddenly obvious. A familiar glaive hung from her back and a familiar belt graced her hips. "I am here to escort you to the stadium, nothing more. Don't get any ideas about friendship." With those harsh words she turned and began stalking away from them. "Follow me or don't. I couldn't care less, but I am the only one who will show you the next portal location."

"But…"

She turned and fixed Yusuke with a vicious stare. "But what?"

"We're here to help you," the boy stated helplessly.

She sneered. "Like I'd ever need help from the likes of you."

A sudden snarl rent the air as Hiei launched himself at her in a blur of power. "Yarou hanyou!" Her eyes widened a moment before he reached her, hands ready to claw her, and then she was gone. No one saw how, but suddenly Hiei was on the ground, Kisu's knee to his back and one of his knives to his throat.

"Watch yourself, aisuhana." She seemed to mentally catch herself and wince at the familiar insult. She drove the dagger into the sand by his head, inches from his nose. "Next time I won't be so kind." She stood and marched off without another word.

Kurama waved for Yusuke and Kuwabara to follow her as he helped Hiei to his feet. The demon threw his hand off violently and glared at her retreating back.

The fox sighed. "She didn't mean it, Hiei."

Hiei's angry glare flicked to him before dropping to the dagger. "Yes, she did." Kurama didn't answer, kneeling to pull the dagger out of the ground. He held it out to him. Hiei's lips twisted. "Why would I want that, fox?" Kurama ignored his query, until Hiei finally took the dagger and grudgingly hid it in the folds of his cloak.

"Let's go," he said, straightening his outfit as he stood, "before we get left behind." With that he strolled after the three figures that were already growing distant.

As soon as the fox's back was turned Hiei pulled the dagger out again. He drew his hand back to chuck it away from him and out of site, but froze at the last moment. He held it in his hand, staring at it.

Kurama glanced over his shoulder. "Come on, Hiei. The only way to go is forward."

Hiei's anger sizzled through the air, but the dagger went back under the cloak, and his feet started for the horizon.

* * *

"Welcome! It's good to see that everyone is here." Hakujou flashed a lively grin at the detectives as Kisu left them and joined him on the raised fighting platform. Her face was devoid of expression as he placed a hand on her head, as one would a beloved pet.

This region was just as sandy as the last, but was occupied by an open stadium. Granite bleachers rose from the red desert, surrounding an equally gray fighters ring. Demons stood in groups of four around it, and the detectives moved into the last open spot. In the bleachers there were only a spattering of observers. Though everyone in Makai and Reikai was aware of this tournament few had known where they could buy tickets and even fewer where it was located. Besides, this wasn't a monetary adventure.

"Now," Hakujou said brightly, "I suppose all of you are wondering as to the purpose of this tournament."

A murmur of curiosity shot through the contestants.

"Well, then. I suppose I shall have to be completely honest and say that I was merely bored."

A round of rowdy chuckles swelled.

"And, what better way to remedy dullness than with bloodshed?"

A cheer went up.

Hakujou smiled modestly. "Though I can't take all of the credit. Half must go to my subordinate here." He ran a finger down around Kisu's ear and under her chin, smiling warmly. Catcalls and whistles exploded from the youki as Kisu's back stiffened. "It's for her that I do this. And it is her that will hold the fourth place on my team."

Kurama placed a hand on Hiei's shoulder to keep him in place.

"But we don't need to dwell on that." His arm dropped around her shoulder. "A quick review of the rules and then we shall start."

"First, as all of you should know, this tournament is by invitation only. To enter your first match you must present that invitation, along with a list of the four members of your team. Also, before beginning, you must present to us your artifact. At the end of each round the winner will claim the other team's artifact, meaning, to advance to the next stage, you must have enough artifacts, won from battles, to match the number of that stage. Therefore, the prize in this tournament is a chance to kill to your heart's content while in the ring, and sixteen rare artifacts of power, the number of teams participating." The smile on his face was now one that chilled to the bone. "I trust that you won't disappoint my bloodthirsty tendencies. Last one standing in the match is the winner. Whether to strike the final blow or not is your choice." His gaze fixed on the detective's. "And since our special guests were the last to arrive, we shall allow them to go first. Please choose your first fighter and send them forward with your invitation. The artifact may stay with you."

Kurama glanced at Yusuke and Kuwabara, about to suggest that he go first, but Hiei snatched the invitation and flashed up onto the platform. Hakujou's eyes crinkled in amusement. "Very well." He took the card from Hiei, whose eyes were locked with Kisu's. The girl showed no emotion in the face of Hiei's famous death glare. "Ookami, send forth a fighter. The rest of you are welcome to take places in the stands." Hakujou turned his back on the koorime and walked away, arm still around Kisu.

This brought a shout from a group on the other side of the stadium as other grumbled and made their way out of the area immediately surrounding the ring.

Forward came a lithe wolf, twice Hiei's height. Pale gold hair framed his tanned brown face. Cruel green eyes danced over a slash of a mouth, and black ears and tail gave his heritage. Excitement wrought the air.

"To whom do I owe the honor of my first kill in a year," snarled Hiei as Hakujou took his place in the stands, lounging in a group of equally lithe and sensuous being. Among them Kisu stuck out like a sore thumb, face stormy verses relaxed and expectant, back straight and angry verses graceful danger.

The wolf sneered. "Killer. Just Killer. And I believe it is you who will die, not me…" He drew Hiei's name out distastefully. "… Jaganshi."

Hiei snarled, haunches rising, metaphorically. His face was feral.

"And what gives you that idea, scum?"

The sneer widened. "Why, all those rumors flying around. The street has it that the Jaganshi has gone soft, actually giving his heart away to someone."

With a roar Hiei disappeared. The wolf froze, face draining of all cockiness when he felt the 'soft' Jaganshi behind him, and his steely katana against his throat. "You lie," Hiei hissed. "The Jaganshi does not go soft. Move and I will kill you." He kicked the wolf's legs out from under him, forcing him to his knees. Hiei stared at Hakujou over the offender's head. "Begin the match, Hakujou."

A grin spread across the man's lips. "What ruthlessness. Of course, Jaganshi. Begin."

Hiei's blade sliced the flesh like butter. Killer gurgled as his blood bubbled out of the open gash, and clawed at his throat as Hiei stepped away, letting the dying demon fall to the ground. Silence prevailed as blood pooled around the thrashing body, until it too fell silent.

A lone demon began to clap, and, with the breaking of that spell, a roar engulfed the crowd. Everything and everyone was whistling and shouts for the brutality, but for Hakujou's team, and Hiei's own comrades.

Hiei turned to face Hakujou, slowly lifting his blade as thick redness dripped from its end. Its silver sheen dulled, hidden by the vile substance. He ran a finger down the length of it before looking up and meeting their faces, wearing a sadistic grin. Kisu met his eyes, and then looked away.

* * *

MMmm... Blood... This chapter made me happy.

**REVIEW RESPONSES:**

**Silent Storm 2000:** Thanks, and, as always, I'm working on it!

**Baka Hanyou Rahvin:** (smirks) For me to know and you to find out. And it's not her demon form; it's her true form. (wink) Everything about her appearance before now has been a sort of illusion.

**OneWhoWalksWithPigeons:** Nope. The signature is most definitely real. And… yeah… we're beginning to draw to a close. But that just means I'll finally have time to start some of my other Yu Yu ficcies.

**SilverDragon63:** (hums innocently) Only time will tell.

**Pen Against Sword: ** You know, announcing it kind of ruins the disguise. And look! It's not a month! Unless the server continues to stay down. This one was completed Monday. Oh! Hitting people is fun!

**Luna's (the moon) lady-love:** But being mysterious is fun…

**Jasmine Reinier:** And I don't want to make Hiei chop him up. Hiei needs to save the chopping for other peoples…

**Dolphinfirl32173:** (grins) Well, getting you to hate him was the point.

**Arano Honou: **Actually, Hakujou literally means cruel as well. Though whatever floats your boat! Hmmm... Ice cream good… Tournaments… Cool, but annoying to write… It's going to be rather condensed. As for Hiei, I couldn't resist! Torturing characters is my favorite pastime!

**Katana Blade: ** Congratulations on the foal, and my plays are thankfully finished! Which is actually a rather depressing thing…

**Darkness Shall Set You Free:** (sweatdrops) Poor Chocolate… (brightens) But Koenma had an excuse for being an idiot this time. Sensory and work overload! Whee!

**Mistress of the Keys:** Thanks, and I'm glad you're looking forward to it.

**TeikaiAnshou114: **Summer! Good news indeed.

**Gothic-ember:** (shrugs) All in a days work. Gotta get some torture in.

**Asilin Kheldarson: **Gah! (glomps) Yay! (happy) And thanks.

**Devonny of the Other Dead:** I'm going to hope that almost making you cry is a good thing.


	35. Chapter ThirtyFour

I'm now officially out of school! As of today! And I have much writing to go pull out of my notebook and type... Including a completly unrelated one-shot that couldn't wait...

**

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Chapter 34**

**Kisu…**

I flipped another page of the crisp memoir. It belonged to some elder, long dead and gone. Ketsueki and Toku, the other members of the team, don't understand why I waste time poring over these old tomes when I could be training instead. Spilling blood, they say, gives more pleasure than reading its scratches.

I spread a hand over the page, blocking the blood-inked words from view as I committed them to memory.

They have a point, but this is what can help me, and neither are facts I'm willing to share with them. It's well known that I despise them and all the other tribe members, especially Hakujou and the current elder, for putting me in his capable hands. But, oddly, my venom towards them is what has finally earned me a sort of amused respect.

"Honestly, Kisuko," Ketsueki said, picking up one of the volumes I had set aside, "I don't know what you see in these dusty old things."

I let my amber eyes snap viciously at her before returning to my studying. A week and already the final match is this afternoon. It's no surprise that we're here, though. It _is_ Hakujou's tournament, and we _are_ his team.

But it is essential that I finish this before then.

"Hmmm…" She flipped long turquoise hair over her shoulder with a razor sharp nail as she idly turned pages. "How boring." Long hair is a matter of pride among my people.

Toku shimmered into view behind her and reached over her shoulder to grab it. "Hai, you should be training or feeding now, preparing for our match this afternoon." He smiled viscously, navy hair brushing his shoulders and wisping around bottle-green eyes. "You wouldn't want to disappoint your lover by being weak, now would you?"

My grip on the book tightened as unwanted images sprang to mind. Every time one of them mentions feeding, I can't help but remember…

Panic flashed through me as I struggled in Iyaku's arms. He held me still, refusing to let me move as Hakujou's voice floated through my ears. The tone was soothing, but the words…

_He smiled. "I promise, koishii, you'll love the feel of live blood." He'd retrieved the neko from the yard and was now restraining it, holding its wrist against my mouth. So tantalizing… so close…_

_I struggled with renewed strength, in pain so strong I could barely think. My very pores ached from the 'gentle' removal of the restraints Hakujou placed on me years ago._

_"Ah ah ah, darling. Be good." He grabbed my chin roughly and forced my mouth open, pushing the flesh into it. His voice became dark. "Now bite."_

_I fought to keep my mouth open, new fangs barely grazing the skin, until I caught a glimpse of Iyaku's face. It was so blank, devoid of expression. Was he as disgusted with Hakujou's behavior as I?_

_My distraction gave just enough leeway to force my jaw closed. My teeth dug deep into the neko's flesh and sweet blood exploded into my mouth as the slave screamed in agony._

_I tried to pull away, to release him, but Hakujou refused, keeping his hand on my jaw and slowly drawing me from Iyaku's lap to his. The neko ended up in my lap and as the two of us met eyes, a moment of horror passed between us. The demon could do nothing but watch as I sucked him dry, and I could do nothing but swallow or suffocate._

_Hakujou laughed over us, and the crying creature's eyes slowly became dull, until the corpse collapsed on me. He was dead, and I had killed him for hunger._

_My tormentor gently removed the wrist from my mouth, fondly stroking the dead body's hair. "See? Wasn't' that fun?" _

_I looked up at him, dazed by the rushing sensation of foreign blood being absorbed by my body and the instant easing of my pain. "No, Hakujou. It wasn't."_

_He sighed in mock aggravation. "Oh well. I suppose you'll learn." He eyes me speculatively. "Though I do wonder what your dear Hiei would think of you now. He seemed quite amused by your pain earlier."_

_My addled brain refused to register Hakujou's taunt. "He… Hiei was here?"_

_He laughed again. "Yes, he was out by the cemetery. He heard everything." _

"Oh, Toku!" Ketsueki exclaimed with mock offense and a light laugh. "You forget, she despises that little midget."

They snickered while I read the last line of the final book and slammed it shut. She draped an arm around my shoulder's and leaned her face down by mine, studying my defiant profile intently. "Though I _do _suppose they're the right size for each other," she mused. "What are you, and inch shorter than him?"

I gritted my teeth and returned the book to its dusty shelf. "No, we're the same height."

She squealed in mock delight. "Now we simply _must_ get you two together." She paused, laughing a bit cruelly. "Unless you accidentally kill each other."

Toku joined her amusement as I tried to snatch the book from him. I just needed to recheck one final detail. "That would be quite a show. Maybe we should get Haku to order his little strumpet to make it a death match, Ketsueki." I finally succeeded and quickly checked that last passage before returning that book to the shelf as well and heading for the door.

"Oh, Toku," Ketsueki simpered. "I think we've made her angry."

No. They've just disgusted me with their vileness. I grabbed my weapons off a shelf and yanked the door to the small room open. Every night we return to this hut via portal. It's right in the middle of the village, making it impossible for me to escape. The other teams were given quarters near the ring, though there is only one team left, the Reikai Tentei. All the others have been killed or sent home crying. And all those artifacts will go to the winner of this battle.

Though I suspect the tournament is mainly to torture me, letting all of those power items fall to Hakujou is still something I would never wish for.

Distracted by the laughter echoing down the hall behind me, I didn't notice Iyaku before I turned a sharp corner and ran straight into him.

He raised one mint eyebrow and carefully righted me, touching me as little as possible before reaching into the pouch at his side and handing me an apple.

That's one good thing about no pills and no permanent shields. It turns out food doesn't make me sick any more, and I can get enough nutrients form it to keep the blood lust to a minimum and Hakujou at bay.

Just seeing the fruit awakened rumbling wants in my gut, and my fingers brushed his as I snatched it from his hand.

Time froze for a moment as my fragile mind shields ripped apart and power poured down my arm and into him, dragging my thoughts with it. I jerked back, dropping the apple. It rolled across the floor as I turned my back on him, hands automatically pressing to my temples, pushing the burning sensation back into its carefully erected prison.

When I finally had it under control he stooped and retrieved the apple, again offering it to me. This time I was very careful not to touch him.

"I don't know why you control that energy so viscously. If mastered it could help you immensely."

I shrugged. "It's more than I know how to control and Hakujou will not be the one to teach me." I bit into the apple. "Besides, what use is sending images?"

"If nasty images, very useful." He paused, and then said, "You're lucky it was me. It wouldn't do for the others to know of your plan."

I froze, and stared at him over the coveted food. His gaze was calm and cold, contained, giving nothing away. Of the tribe members I've had contact with he is the most reserved. Maybe that's why he's the only one I can barely tolerate.

But his attitude also reminds me of a very calm Hiei. I can't interact with him without feeling a pang of pain in my heart. With him around I couldn't forget my demon if I tried.

And that's probably why he's on the team, because Haku knows he reminds me.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I tried. His lips curled slightly, and my blood chilled. "Does Hakujou know?" the words were out before I could register them.

His smile faded. "I wouldn't doubt it." My spirits dropped. "But if he believes it will amuse him, he will look past it."

So there is still hope.

Iyaku eyes me speculatively. "If you wish to finish casting the form before the battle, I would begin now." He again reached into his pouch and dropped a packet of herbs in my hand. "That should save you some time. Good luck."

With the bestowment of his unexpected gift he disappeared around the corner, to tell the others of the afternoon battle plan.

I finished the apple, hung the herbs from the empty sheath on my belt, and went in search of a secluded place to work.

When I arrived at the stadium an hour and a half later the excess power I had been trying to control was greatly diminished and, to me, my skin felt like one big slithering mass of power.

My limbs felt heavy and my thoughts sluggish; it is a bad combination before a fight.

But for this to work… that sacrifice is necessary…

* * *

**REVIEW RESPONSES**

**Arano Hanou:** Blood…. MMmmm…. Ummm… I get the sentence, but I was saying that, yes, there is an aku in hakujou, and aku means evil, but hakujou as a big word also means cruel. And purple bunnies make me happy! Shrek. Good movie. I think you may be thinking Count Olaf and the Gingerbread man.

**Silent Storm 2000:** Updates are good for everyone's heads…

**Pen Against Sword:** (sweatdrop) You reviewed. Lady snake? Remember the gifts the gang gave Kisu way back? The daggers and the glaive? Guess what her weapons are, and there you have the answer of the meaning of the dagger. As for the looking away… it's probably a combo of all of those… As for your predictions…. (smiles) You'll just have to wait, though things are probably a little more obvious after this chapter. (?) Harry Potter! EEE! Can't wait. (hits head) Darn! I still have to pre-order my copy! And give me links to piccies once they're up! And I don't get out of school until Monday. I'm in the midst of killer exams at the moment, which is why, though this chapter has been finished since last week, it didn't get typed until Friday. Same for the lovely one-shot I wrote when I should have been studying.

**Darkness Shall Set You Free: **(evil smirk) Yes, run he should.

**Jasmine Reinier: ** This review was the one that helped sway me to put the final battle round in, instead of just cutting the entire thing but the final battle like my lazy fingers were urging.

**Ciardra: **(laughs) I agree with you one hundred percent!

**Fate's Child Destiny's Friend: ** (sweat drop) Yes… Write more story! I need more story! And 'The Best Defense" got reported and deleted by someone. I'll send you the link where the author said it's also posted.

**OneWhoWalksWithPigeons:** Ficcie… ficcie… ficcie… ICE CREAM!

**Fire-Crow:** (laughs) Aye, just a wee bit sad. And killing is the best part. (evil smile)

**Mistress of the Keys:** Hiei is the one that should be pitied I suppose… but he won't even admit anything, so he doesn't deserve it…

**Baka Hanyou Rahvin:** Telling defeats the purpose of writing the fic. (smile) But yes, it was Hakujou that put the original binding spell on Kisuko. (tilts head to side) And I don't know what it is either, but the killing definitely makes him sexier.

**Niana Kounji:** (sweatdrops) Do you really want Hiei to be careful? Or would you enjoy it more if he made many stupid mistakes, as long as he's fairly in character? Knowing you I'm guessing you want him to suffer (smile) so I'm not gonna pass this warning on (Hiei locked in closet so he can't kill the plot) and pretend it didn't happen. And explosions are fun. They make pretty fire.

(laughs) And yeah… killing tends to do that for him. And nope, your doubt should pan out correctly, unless he knows something I don't… That's always a possibility…

**Gothic-ember:** You and everyone else. Now… is Dark just being an annoying author? Or does it all have a point…? (leaves decision to faithful reviewer types)

**SilverDragon63: **Kurama's very perceptive like that, though I kind of wish Yusuke and Kuwa hadn't developed into oblivious fools in this piece. And yes, same dagger, same glaive. No comment on the love thing.

**Chimataki:** (shudders at the very mention of Mary-Sues) And thank you. It makes me feel fuzzy, hearing that people appreciate my writing, even if it makes _me_ want to barf sometimes. (laughs) As for the several months, for these characters there was no other way to do it. (wink) You can't get over instant dislike immediately, even if it is masking a deeper interest. Guinea pig…. Urgh… at least it's demonic qualities make it more interesting, ne?

**LilPurrfection:** Merci. And I'll definitely try now that school is nearly out.

**TrickstersThiefGirl: **Blood… is such a wonderful substance…

**Kamikaze-Watermellon:** (laughs) So much uncoolness. This is good. And Pepsi! Yay! Though I'm more a Coca-Cola person myself.

**Hiei's1girl:** (grin) Better late than never. And thanks. It's a treat hearing that the characters are… in character, I suppose. If they weren't there would be major issues, now wouldn't there?

**Dragonmount:** Blood 'tis wonderful… did I already mention that?

**Devonny of the Other Dead:** Urgh… 'Tis sad, the first time people start asking for the finishing length. It's looking to figure about 40 chapters not including the epilogue. (grim) And if you mean the picture I think you do, yes, please send it!

**Asilin Kheldarson:** MMM! You updated. Thankies for the heads up! And no, no beating Hakujou until it's over.

**Madoka:** Merci, and will do!

**Wolf-black-flame:** Thanks! I hope you enjoy the rest of it, though there isn't all that much left.

**Broken Shadow Hawk: **(laughs) It'll be good to know who you actually are. Ick. I don't like writing the tournaments out completely… it has no relevance to the story, so why bother? And take ten chapters off that estimate… That should be about right for the story length. As for the rest, can't tell you the plot, now can I? And our Kisu still has her Christmas presents, meaning three of the four daggers from Hiei and the Glaive from the others. Bonne appetite!


	36. Chapter ThirtyFive

Okay, all you lovely lovely people. Here's the deal. I'm, once again, at my father's. If you remember correctly, this means Darkness has no Internet! She must drag her butt down to the library and fight all the other computer deprived freaks for her measly thirty minutes! Last time I was up here, the number of responses I was getting was much less… That it takes me almost half an hour to answer them all now is probably good.

Except for this time. This time it means you get the chapter today, **without** responses, or you wait until next week for it. I'm guessing you'd hurt me more for withholding the chapter than you will for painfully cutting the responses; or that's what I'm hoping. All that aside, please don't abandon me! I read every single review, and it would make me sad if they went away…

Gah… A/N too long… Go read already.

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**Chapter 35**

**Hiei…**

"I can't fight her! She's a girl!" Kuwabara shouted, face red. "It's against my code of honor!"

"Get over yourself, idiot! If you don't get in there right now I'll kill you myself!" With that Yusuke kicked his friend towards the ring, where Ketsueki waited impatiently.

"Urameshi! I can't!" he whined.

"I… don't… care!"

Ketsueki sighed in aggravation. "If the ningen is too scared to fight me, you can always forfeit the round." She flicked invisible dust off her shoulder. "That would be disappointing, but acceptable." Cruelty curled her lips. "So come forward, coward, or fail before you even start."

"What!" The comment had Kuwabara up in the ring in an instant, leaving Yusuke to fall on his face and curse his idiot friend. "Fighting a girl may be against my code, but so is letting my friends down."

Ketsueki scoffed. "Friends. What a trivial thing to get slaughtered over."

Kuwabara stood a little straighter, composure returning. "That's obviously something you can't understand."

"Enough." Hakujou suddenly dropped in the center of the ring, wearing an overly sweet smile. "Save the venom for the battle. It wouldn't do to use it all up now."

Ketsueki rolled her eyes. "He is ningen, Haku. I don't think exhausting my supply for his kind is possible."

He turned a special smile on her. "Very well." The grin grew to include all present. "Then let us begin!"

Kuwabara, always direct, summoned his sword and charged forward with a yell. Chime-like laughter dripped from Ketsueki's lips, and she easily maneuvered out of his way with a swirl of satin skirts. "So slow! You won't even be a challenge."

"You!" Kuwa roared and spun to attack again.

Again, Ketsueki slipped out of his reach at the last moment, a hand trailing casually over his shoulders as she danced past. Kuwa turned and chopped down on her, only to find her suddenly behind him. "Better," she purred, slipping an arm around Kuwabara's neck. "But you're still holding back."

He yanked her over his shoulder, and she flipped gracefully to land in a crouch. She was dressed for a ball, not a fight, in her extravagant gown, but the skirts hid her movements as well as any hakima. "Good…" She moved once more, feet tapping out a rhythm on the stones and finger nails scratching out accompaniment. "But I still have first blood."

Kuwabara froze for a second, hand slapping his neck as he felt blood well from claw marks. Ketsueki took the chance to dart forward, planting a chaste kiss on his lips. He yelped and pushed her away. She allowed herself to be dislodged, sweeping a leg through his ankles to knock him over as she plunged fingers into his shoulder and tore deep furrows.

He landed with a thud, face twisting with pain, before leaping at her with righteous fury. "Cheater! You're cheating!"

She dodged his punch and whipped her hand out, this time slicing deep into his forearm. "Oh…" she said coldly. "Are you sure? I believe I'm being practical." She paused, eyes flashing as his arm shot out and the sword clipped her side by pure accident. "Though you seem to be getting a bit better as well."

Kuwabara smirked and came in for another hit. "The great Kazuma always wins!"

"Really?" The attack grazed her cheek. "That seems doubtful, considering minutes ago, you couldn't stand the thought of hitting me."

Horror flashed across the human's face as he realized his breach of honor, and he faltered. She laughed, darting at him and dragging claws across his stomach before he could react. He raised a hand to defend himself, too off kilter from her logic to do much else. "So gullible…" she muttered under her breath, happily.

His eye twitched. "_Gullible_! _I'm_ gullible! You're the one that's working for that monster!" He took another swing at her. "You're the one that's trying to disrupt the balance of Spirit World!" His eyes lost track of her as she blurred around him at high speeds.

He froze as her arm again snaked around his neck, the other firmly around his waist. "Maybe so," she murmured. "But I am still the winner." She bit down on his neck, and he convulsed, trying to dislodge her as he had earlier. He moved to grip her arms, but her teeth dug deeper, and his eyes flew wide, head tilting back.

"Uhhh…"

She released him, and licked her lips contemplatively as he dropped to the ground and twitched. "Too bitter for my taste…" She wrinkled her nose and prodded him with a foot. "And you truly are weak if losing that much blood affects you." Kuwa's eyes stared into the sky, uncomprehending. She crouched by him and examined him gleefully. "Or maybe it's the sedative in my fangs."

Hakujou reappeared at her side, gazing down over her shoulder. "He'll recover. He really must taste awful then." He nodded. "Very well, then. Ketsueki is the winner of this match! Up next is Yusuke Urameshi verse Toku of the Blood Tribes! The match will begin in five minutes, after the arena has been cleared."

Yusuke bounded up, immediately falling to his knees by Kuwabara. "Hey, man, speak to me."

His eyes blinked once, expression coming down from Heaven.

Kurama joined Yusuke, to take their teammate and leave him to his fight, peering closely at him. "His pulse appears to be fine, Yusuke, though I don't doubt that the girl did have poison in her."

Toku entered the ring from the other side, pausing a minute to discuss something with Haku. Yusuke clenched his fist. "Okay, then. Get him out of here." He patted Kuwabara on the shoulder, eyes smoldering darkly, though the youth still showed no sign of hearing him. "I'll get these cheaters back for you."

One win, one loss. That Yusuke would lose the battle had been impossible. By the time it was over, Toku wished it had never happened. It would have saved him the humiliation.

Toku's eyes went wide and his illusion shattered as Yusuke's attack hit him square in the chest, throwing him out of the ring. It had taken three tries, but he had hit him.

"How…" The man wrinkled his forehead in bewilderment, unsuccessfully trying to raise his broken body from the rubble caused by his impact. If he didn't return to the ring within five seconds, he would be disqualified. "You are human…" The boy had managed to shoot him with his energy blast, his spirit gun, even while Toku used his physic abilities to shield himself from physical and mental eyes. How had the boy hit him, when he could not see him?

Yusuke smiled darkly. "Eyes aren't my only sense." The boy had won through intelligence, a rare and astonishing feat. "I used my ears."

Toku barely contained his flinch as Yusuke appeared in front of him, believing the teen would now finish him, even though he had clearly won. Even a demon is afraid of death, if given the chance. "You've got terrible footwork." He brought his hand up, fingertip glowing, to prepare for another blast.

Toku's face drained of color.

"Bang." A harmless ping of energy flew from Yusuke, dissipating before it even reached him. Yusuke turned his back on him, laughing as he fainted away.

"Aiieee!" Kurama roared, the sheer force of power in his shout dissipating the energy blast heading straight for him. "I will not surrender!" He yanked on the twin whips binding Iyaku's wrists, shoving power into them and growing the thorns right into his opponent's flesh. In response, Iyaku again drained the power from them, using the inverse of his healing techniques. Yusuke sat on the sidelines, reproving Kuwabara for his miserable performance earlier, now that the oaf had woken up, while tending to his own minor wounds. Hiei watched, shrewdly categorizing strengths and weaknesses to give the fox his opinion of the battle later on.

"I didn't say you should," he murmured, façade blank. "Just that your defeat is inevitable." He leaned against the force of Kurama's pulling before using the fox's own strength to spring himself at his foe, foot burying itself in his face with a sickening crunch. Kurama shook his hands free of his whips just in time to slow the attack enough to prevent serious harm, but not before it sent him flying.

Iyaku calmly disentangled himself from the quickly shriveling vines while Kurama came to one knee and spat out a mouthful of blood, reaching up to snap his nose back into alignment. His hair had long since broken free of its tie, and blood streaked his face. His eyes flashed uncontrollably beneath the wild mass. Iyaku was not much better, light hair and garments stained black in numerous places. All in all, the two were equally matched.

"Still," he snarled, "I'd rather win." Another whip sprouted in Kurama's hand as he buried fingers in his hair.

Iyaku smiled tersely, another blast growing in his palm. "Actually, I agree with you, but I haven't much choice this time around."

Kurama's whip snaked across the ring, managing to slash Iyaku's arm before he could slip out of range, firing another attack. Kurama leapt into the air deftly, catching Iyaku's leg on the recoil. He yanked the green man's leg out from under him, thorns digging deep into the muscles. Iyaku cupped the growing energy in his hands and slammed it into the whip at the same instant vines sprouted from the seeds hidden in Kurama's palm and shot at him like living spears, charged with youki to explode upon impact. Iyaku's energy surged up whip, crackling like green electricity around the taut rose plant.

Time seemed to freeze for a moment, as Kurama found Iyaku's eyes on the other end of the incoming technique. Realization blossomed, and the two wore matching smirks of understanding as twin explosions blasted them, paralyzing their nerves with shock.

"What a waste," Kurama muttered as his limp body landed with a bang, amused despite his loss.

A chuckle floated to him from the other side of the ring as Iyaku landed in a like state. "You have no idea, friend."

Kurama stared at the sky. The green man was probably right.

"So…" Hakujou said, amused as Kisu dragged Iyaku from the ring, and Hiei chased Ketsueki from Kurama with a growl, then lifting the larger demon and slinging him over his back. "We have reached the final battle, in a perfect tie." A grin spread across his face. "And we've each only one fighter left." Hiei and Kisu's heads shot up, faces identical voids.

"Yes," Kisu breathed, some sort of weight dropping from her posture. "Just us."

"Yes," Hiei responded stiffly.

Hakujou's familiar smile widened. "Then I have a proposition, to make this more interesting for all of us. I suggest a fight to the death."

Surprisingly, Kisu's eyes glinted with excitement. "Of course, what other way is there?"

"Hiei." The demon almost dropped the fox, having nearly forgotten he was holding him. Kurama's legs almost touched the ground, even while on Hiei's back, and his head rested awkwardly on his friend's shoulder. "Get out of the ring." Hiei's eyes flicked to him, but he started walking again.

Kisu kneeled and pulled Iyaku's arm over her shoulder, lifting him when Ketsueki joined her on his other side.

Hiei gently lowered Kurama to the ground by Kuwabara. Moving away, he halted when Kurama's fingers caught his pant leg, urging him to return. Hiei lowered his head to hear the fox's faint whisper. "Will you be alright?"

Hiei narrowed his eyes. "Do you doubt me?"

Kurama's expression showed concern, overlapped by a need to know that all the work would not have been for nothing. "In this case, yes."

Hiei stood with a foul snort. "Well, don't. That's what gets you killed." Quickly settling his katana more firmly on his hip, he leapt back into the ring. "If she wants to kill me, I can very well kill her."

Kisu lowered Iyaku, gently patting his shoulder, before scooping up the glaive and slipping it through the harness on her back. She levered herself back into the ring with the boneless grace the others had come to associate with her teammates, but not her.

Hakujou attempted to offer her a hand up, but she shrugged him off. He grabbed her arm and yanked her close. "I'm surprised," he whispered. "What are you up to?"

She flashed a cold smile. "Exactly what you want me to be, Hakujou." She pulled away, leaving him behind without a backwards glance. "Ready to see which of us is really better, Hiei?"

"Me, hanyou."

She turned the cold smile on him. _Are you that sure?_

His eyes widened slightly, and suddenly his body was thrumming with the urge to fight. All the ones before had been a chore, but this…

His trademark smirk flared to life. _Possibly. Want to find out?_

Her eyes danced, and she raised an arm in the air. Hiei mirrored her, ignoring the pang of memory the motion brought. "Hajime!"

Both disappeared, instantly coming back together with a crash of wood and metal, and just as quickly breaking apart before coming together again.

_You're stronger._

Her eyes flicked to Hiei a second before they collided again. Her glaive slipped past his block, nicking him on the arm. _You would be, too._

He growled and flashed to her rear. She brought the glaive up just in time, using the staff portion to block the downward cut. She tilted it to the side, forcing his blade to the left. He flickered out of sight, and she turned, again catching his attack at the last instant. _Maybe so, but you could have gotten stronger anywhere._

She broke away and thrust back with the butt of the weapon. _If I had the choice._

_Only the weak don't have choices!_ He snarled, dodging the slow attack. He whipped one of his own across her arm, slashing it deep.

_It is the weak that let themselves be controlled. It is the weak that allow themselves to be conquered. It is the weak that allow themselves to manipulated! _Each point was accompanied by an attack of such great speed and strength Kisu barely managed to block each one. They gouged deep scores in even the extra hard wood of her glaive.

Her eyes burned in her face, and she disappeared from in front of him, attacking from the rear with a powerful slice. _What do you know of the life I lead? How much do you know of my past? Besides what I have told you, nothing!_ He blocked with enough force to send her flying. She rose, hair sweeping across her face. _Who are you to speak of being manipulated, when the only other option is instant death? When you serve that stupid toddler to avoid prison?_

The hatred in her eyes stung. _No one. No one but one of those you betrayed._ His eyes sparked. _But who are you, who so easily forsook vows of friendship? _His attack knocked her across the ring, and sent her weapon flying from her hands. She drew a dagger without hesitation, rising to rejoin the circling game._ I may have to play dog, but at least I haven't given up on freedom. _He barely gave time for her to get to her feet before coming at her. Sparks flew as she quickly drew a second dagger and blocked his blade two-handed.

_Give up my freedom?_ Her mental voice was a low growl, barely recognizable. _Do you know why I gave it up? Again? _She pushed his sword back, striking back in its wave. Her knives danced across Hiei's arms, leaving a trail of blood. _You weakling, you fool… Are you that blind?_ She disappeared, and Hiei used his own arm to block the knife cut headed for his skull. _You worthless aisuhana! I hate you!_

He felt her signature freeze behind him, a second before it struck. His sword arm instinctively came back, intuitively knowing where to strike. It slid through her defenses, and straight through her chest before she even had a chance to finish her attack; before Hiei had a chance to realize what he was doing.

She gasped, and the knife slipped from suddenly limp fingers, clattering to the ground. Her hand caught at his shoulder as her body convulsed around the blade, and she fell into his arms as he half-turned, eyes unbelieving. The sword was buried hilt-deep, the perfect attack. He released it, arms wrapping around her shoulders as she started to slip to the ground, fingers grappling for a hold on his clothing as her knees gave way. "You… you ran away… " she breathed. "And left me…" Another wave of pain racked her body. Blood dribbled from the corner of her mouth. Burning eyes drifted closed, rolling back. The glimpse Hiei had seared him, showing him not only pure, unadulterated hatred, but also confusion, and a relief that it was finally over.

_No._ His brain spun, unable to comprehend this sudden turn of events. _No…_

She drew a rattling breath, hands clenching, eyes squeezed shut, head pressed to his chest. For a second she was safe within the circle of his arms, secluded from everything.

_Right where she was meant to be,_ his mind whispered.

"Kisuko, I…"

Her eyes opened languidly, highly focused for someone on the verge of death. "You what? Love me?" She laughed, though the affect was ruined when she coughed, crumpling to the side and spewing blood. She gazed up at him, breathless and bloody. "Don't worry, Hiei. I hate you too."

_No!_

"Hanyou."

She flipped a quick smile, and then with one final shudder, her eyes went dull, fingers releasing their death grip on his cloak. He stumbled as the life drained from her body, and she became nothing more than weight. Her body dragged him to his knees, limp in his arms.

_No… Not dead. Not dead not dead not dead. _The mantra continued in his skull.

A shadow fell to its knees in front of him, franticly tugging her from his arms. "No… All wrong," it muttered. Hiei numbly let Hakujou pull her from him.

Yes. She's dead. Dead dead dead dead dead… 

"Koishii. Kisu." He held her tightly, gently holding her, cradling her, clutching the broken shell to him. "It went wrong," he breathed.

And it's your fault. All your fault… 

Hiei's anger gathered, trying to find anything to strike out at, to blame. Anyone except himself.

_No, not your fault. Can't be your fault._

"So terribly wrong…"

_Not your fault… **His** fault._

"Your fault," Hiei growled, lunging for the blood demon. "This is your fault."

Hakujou's head shot up, and he leapt away. "My fault?" He laughed mockingly, eyes radiating hatred of the highest degree. He backed away slowly, subordinates rushing to his side. "I'm not the one who killed her, Hiei." His voice caught, and the disdain increased tenfold. "I didn't stab her through the heart, you fool. I wasn't the one who couldn't sort out their feelings." He sneered at the frozen soul crouched at his feet, staring up at him with feral anger. "Maybe if you had been smarter I would have left her alone." He gently stroked her cheek. Her head lolled to the side. Amber eyes starred blankly at her killer. He nodded 'now' and Iyaku and Ketsueki quickly placed hands on his shoulders, the unconscious Toku suspended between them. "If you hadn't waited until the last second possible…"

Hiei's chest tightened, and his fingers clenched, digging gouges in the cement.

No… not his fault… 

Hakujou's arms tightened around her, unwilling to let her go. "No, forbidden one," Hakujou said, voice pained. "This is your fault." His eyes glittered. "And I will make sure you pay for it."

Bright light flashed through the ring, and they disappeared.

A fissure forced itself into his reality, titling the world sideways. _No,_ his traitor mind hissed. _It's not his fault…_

"Snap out of it, Hiei!" Yusuke whacked him on the shoulder, glaring angrily. Hiei blinked and looked up at him.

_Because it's your fault._

"My fault…" he muttered disgustedly.


	37. Chapter ThirtySix

Well, what has it been? Two years or something ridiculous? Hopefully this chapter will make up for some of that wait, for those of you who haven't forgotten about me of Kisu! Let me tell you, many uncountable hours of blood and sweat, and quite a bit of gore, went into this chapter. It's been rehauled, revamped, rewritten, and edited at least four times, and this is the final, somewhat palatable result. Enjoy it, or I'll have to get major writer's block again!

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**Chapter 36**  
**Kisu…**

So heavy… I felt so numb. It invaded me, ate at the corners of my soul, dampened my emotions. It sent them all away, except the sense of panic slowly rising and filling my head, connected to a feeling I couldn't name, and a dull throbbing centered in my chest.

But suddenly I knew. I knew what it was. I felt trapped, _was_ trapped. My soul swirled sickeningly within dead flesh, searching frantically for an escape that didn't exist, and there was nothing I could do to fix it. It was the only thing breaking through the coldness encircling my mind, the only thing I could notice, and the only thing I could name that wasn't right. That is, until the closing fingers of fear were suddenly interrupted by a jolt of foreign energy. It ricocheted unexpectedly around this empty shell, bringing with it a taste of the past world and a subtle stab of pain. And just in time to feel myself flung callously at a hard surface, too.

The sound of voices brought me back to the edge of consciousness, words drifting to my spirit's ears, but that was all. My sense of self remained dim, and my strongest connection to the living continued to be the feel of cold marble beneath my cheek and the roasting sun cooking my lifeless flesh.

"She is well and truly dead, Hakujou," Iyaku argued, voice tense. "There is nothing I, nor anyone, can do."

Heavy footsteps stomped back and forth within my small radius of sound. "She cannot be! I will not allow it!" he growled with irrational anger. "The Elder prophesized her life years ago, and it _did not _involve an early death!"

A cool hand pressed itself to my forehead, more energy probing my mind in search of any possible signs of life and lifting the haze a little farther at the same time. The hand dropped away once more when it had failed at its task, but this time, as it left, I could faintly see it. My vision remained black, but vague images began to stream through my mind, inexplicably showing me the events surrounding me.

"Then why don't you ask the Elder?" Iyaku mumbled, sensing the woman standing off to the side when it was obvious Hakujou still had not. "If she is the one who prophesized this for you, then perhaps she will be able to tell you what has changed the outcome."

Hakujou swirled and slammed a fist into the stone tablet, hard enough that I could feel the vibrations of the impact. "If you dare even to think of that woman, I will kill you myself!" With an angry snarl he resumed his stomping. "I still cannot believe you lost to that miserable creature who calls himself a fox."

"I had thought it would make you happy," Iyaku stated, voice unhappy. "If I had won you would not have gotten to finish your game with the girl."

Hakujou opened his mouth, angry retort building. "If you had won, we would not be in this situation now!" He stepped towards Iyaku, the rage streaming off him in waves, intent on pounding some of his frustration into him.

"Stop!" Her voice flew forward, cutting through the tense atmosphere of their feud, and preceding her appearance as she stepped from the shadows of the burial tree. Full robes billowed around her lithe form, the long sleeves defying the dry, desert climate, and gray eyes gleamed angrily from beneath a mass of dark blue hair. "Enough," she repeated, voice hard, ruthless. "These arguments are useless."

Hakujou froze, back stiffening as his eyes darted towards the imposing figure. "What are you doing here, Elder?"

A cold smile flitted across her smooth, wrinkle free face. "This is my territory, nephew; this is my land, and you are my people. Is there a reason I should not be here?"

Hakujou's face tightened, but he lifted his chin, voice defiant as he answered, ignoring her reference to their kinship. "She is my ward, elder, mine to control. You have no say here."

Her grin widened. "Yes, but you are my subject, as is she. I outrank you by far."

My vision continued to strengthen. Images slowly solidified in my mind as the conversation sifted through my ears and I struggled to follow along, the words skipping away from me, the meanings escaping and dancing out of my reach. And with my growing awareness, the pain was slowly growing too, steadily increasing as my life slowly returned. Growing, pounding outward with a slow throb, its edge sharpened with every beat, letting me know it was there and that I would feel it yet, how ever distance it remained. How ever bearable and separate from what little consciousness my mind held.

The Elder calmly stepped over to me, brushing Iyaku's fingers away from where they gently stroked my cheek and replaced them with her own. Energy flowed from her fingertips, pushing into my skin, and joined the mottled collection already swimming there. They were all there, I could feel them. Hers, Iyaku's, one I vaguely knew was mine, and… one I couldn't recognize. My mind tried to grasp at this unusualness, but lost it as, just as with the others, this touch of life brought to me a new level of understanding.

This one was different, though, flowing over the surface of everything, momentarily blocking out the events around me. It wasn't a new sense. It wasn't even something I could name. It was images I didn't recognize flowing over the old. But somehow I knew they were not the present. No, they felt old, fragmented, incomplete. And oh so familiar…

Dusty books, dirty pages, mismatched lines… A feeling of desperation, a need to escape. A need so great that I was willing to pay any price, even that of my own life. Fear, difficulty, immense guilt. And then eyes so red they seemed to bleed, before a sense of immense satisfaction. The eyes flooded me, filling my mind and consciousness, the key to something, to everything. But they slipped away, just like everything else. And though my spirit strained to retrieve them they remained flimsy and shadowed and too far away to help.

But this was all erased as a new tier of pain arrived, following this new knowledge just as the new knowledge had followed every touch of energy. And just as with the knowledge, this one was more insistent, more there than the dull throbbing of before. It forced its way into my thoughts, not content to sit off to the side unnoticed, and slowly filled my skin, torturously, drop by drop, trying to find the point at which I would break. It swelled and fluttered, growing with the force of a half-banked fire.

The Elder's palm cupped my blood-spattered cheek, and the fire reached for her, eating at the edges of my consciousness, taking the touch of her skin and using it to grow. It reached for her, and slowly drained away, growing, but all the while pouring itself into her instead of me. Her hand instantly removed itself, violently shoving my energy back into me, while still maintaining its slow decorum for Hakujou's sake. For me, though, it spared no mercy, and as the fire came roaring back I would have whimpered if I could have, if I could have moved under the heavy blanket of death still covering me.

"Do you know what she has done?" she asked deliberately, fingers playing along the edge of the sword still protruding from my chest.

Hakujou shifted his stance, watching the woman warily. "I believe she was working on one of our old bindings, but I do not know if she succeeded."

She smiled knowingly, hand moving to my matted hair. "At least you aren't oblivious, I suppose." An amused expression passed over her face. "I wonder if you understand what she has given up for you. She, who is impure, imperfect, and spawned by one of our most disgraceful." A soft laugh escaped her lips. "She, who shows even more of our values than you." Her gaze drifted to the dark haired man, listing them. "Valor, loyalty, deceit with honor." She paused for affect. "Ingenuity." Her smile turned indulgent. "Did you truly think she would murder one of her own?"

Annoyance flickered over his face. "I thought I was adhering to my task, by exposing her to the conflicts of our world."

Amusement glittered deep within her eyes. "Putting the fact that you disobeyed my orders and took the task assigned to you into your own hands aside, don't you realize that by doing exactly as she expected of you that you fell directly into her trap?" She looked down at my bloodless face fondly. "It is amazing what she has done for you, Hakujou, to protect those who accepted her where we would not." She didn't bother to keep the glee from her voice. "And that you are not even aware of it."

His aggravation increased, apparent in the hard lines of his body. "You're talking in circles, elder," he spat, the careful restraint falling from voice. "Make them clear before I lose patience with you."

The bright lights animating the woman's face immediately vanished, her voice going from light to hard in the blink of an eye. "Remember your respect, boy," she commanded, voice flat. Eyes remaining on Hakujou, she switched her attention to Iyaku. "Healer, you would agree that the girl has succeeded phenomenally, would you not?"

Iyaku eyed Hakujou distastefully before answering reluctantly. "Yes, elder."

The silence stretched between them, the two men waiting expectantly for her response. Agitation fluttered across her face, and she turned away from them, pacing around the stone tablet. "Then go notify the villagers."

Iyaku bowed, green hair obscuring his face. "At once, my lady." He stood, and started towards the cluster of houses in the distance, his form shimmering as he moved off over the hot desert sands.

And that left her attention with nothing to focus on except the villain. She paused in her pacing and shot the man a disgusted look. "I suppose you have gathered by now that your ward is not dead," she said disdainfully.

Hakujou nodded, voice still stony. "Yes, though you once told me she would live well into old age so I suppose there was nothing to worry about."

"Yes, though I never told you her rising would be your downfall."

Uneasiness wavered over his face for only the barest of seconds before he lifted his chin. "Seers have been wrong before," he stated, filling his voice with conviction.

The indulgent smile returned. "Yes, but under the circumstances, I do not believe I am wrong." She reached over and intentionally jostled the sword. Unexpected agony ripped through my nerves, the pain tearing through me as the blade sliced through the flesh I'd forgotten I could feel. My body struggled to twitch, scream, anything. But nothing worked, and I had no outward motions to show the force of what was slowly ravishing my flesh.

"Let us say that she did indeed succeed in her binding," she began smoothly. "And she managed to decipher the Seal of Self Correction. What would that mean?"

The first real sign of uncertainty slid through Haku's eyes. "It means she would have willingly obliterated that which held her back and caused her weaknesses."

The Elder smiled as one does at a poor student. "Very good. Now, do you know what holds Kisuko back most among our people?"

Hakujou snorted in disgust. "Of course. It is her retched humanity."

The Elder's smile widened. "And what exactly does that mean?"

Contempt colored his voice. "It is her morals, her feelings, the softness which causes her to care. It is the limitations her humanity places on her strength. It is the limits placed on both her body and mind."

Malicious excitement flooded the woman's face. "Yes, and what do you think that means for you, Hakujou, who has been so cruel to her?"

The fire beat at my innards, working itself to a frenzy. It burned me, seared me to the point where I should have died again, but despite it, I could feel my flesh reawakening, life returning, muscles softening as the shroud of death was slowly forced away. My muscles struggled to thrash and flail, finally managing to flex, to make me gasp, too draw fresh air into my dead lungs. But instead of refreshing, it only burned as it traveled through places that had forfeited their right to be, and moved on to an existence of rotting flesh and staleness.

His forehead furrowed, gears turning, before understanding dawned on him. "She intended to be killed all along," he murmured, shocked. "She knew she would come back…" His eyes settled on my battered body. My muscles twitched, overcoming the heavy sluggishness that held them down. "She intends to kill me." His tone was incredulous, looking at me, the girl he had beaten daily for months.

"And it's such a simple plan. It's amazing, isn't it, Hakujou?" she asked mockingly.

He gave her a wide eyed look, doubt finally washing his face. "Why should she do this? She held it as the only thing that kept her separate from us."

The other villagers finally appeared around us, stepping out of thin air to form a circle around our trio. This knowledge barely registered as my struggle to survive this bath of pain continued.

She smiled insincerely and shrugged. Her fingers curled around the sword hilt. "Perhaps, but who am I to know what she is the thinking. You are the one who should know her thoughts inside and out." She began to slowly pull the sword free of its living sheath. "But at least she'll get her revenge. And you'll finally get what you deserve." A harsh cackle jumped from her, and she pulled more viciously on the sword. The sharp metal dragged a slow path through my flesh, slicing places that weren't meant to be touched. Shredding my heart even more than it already was.

The tip slipped from my skin, and my heart took a sluggish beat. Fresh air clawed its way down my throat, choking my first attempt at a scream. Scalding fire rushed through my veins, pushed faster by my fluttering heart. Blood pumped out of my open chest as it simultaneously healed at an impossible rate, and my body arched off the table as a pain-filled shriek finally tore itself from my throat.

My hands scratched at my throat, clawing at my own skin, drawing ragged lines as air flew in and out of my lungs, burning it's way through the unused organs. I jerked, sitting up despite the heavy weight trying to keep me down, and toppled off the table to my hands and knees, landing hard on the heated stone. My stomach turned sickeningly and I gasped as my blurred eyes suddenly focused, and my unsteady mind was confronted with vision so sharp I couldn't find my depth perception, so confused by the miniscule details. Changes ripped through my muscles, tearing them apart and burning away the imperfections before quickly knitting them back together, stronger, leaner, thinner than before. And a horrible wrenching in my jaw threw me into convulsions, where I writhed and flailed, eyes squeezed shut as endless screaming shredded the soft skin of my throat.

The Elder extended a hand to stop the approaching Hakujou, and he watched in horror as my nails scratched bloody gouges in the marble platform. "What is wrong with her?" he gasped, voice filling with horror even as he attempted to side step the Elder's arm and continue towards me.

She sneered, halting him again, but not without glancing sympathetically my way. "Her entire being has just been rearranged, nephew. I would think it very painful, and I suspect it will leave her very hungry."

"Then get someone!" he roared, shoving past her, hands descending on my shoulders.

His voice and the overwhelming strength of his scent flooded my brain, pushing pass even the pain-induced wall blocking all external sensations from reach. "Kisuko, snap out of it!" He jerked on my shoulders, anger filling his voice, half lifting me from the ground as he shook me in frustration. The pain tore through me, but slowly, surely, it become less important, and something even newer, even stronger, began rising to take its place.

He dropped me, and my body curled in on itself, muscles twitching, convulsing as they struggled towards perfection. Rage so hot that it singed the air around him poured from his skin as he turned back on the elder. "Fix her!" he bellowed, glaring up at her as she towered over us.

She laughed, bloody sword held nonchalantly. "She'll fix herself. Just wait for it, Hakujou."

The name struck deep within me, pulling at the rising sensation, striking the fading memories. My eyes drifted over the blade, my gut clamoring for revenge as the significance of the name and the item drifted away from me.

His eyes flared, glaring at the woman. "I will not wait. You will do something now!"

Something in me snapped. My head jerked up, and I found myself staring deep into the woman's eyes. She exhaled, almost inaudibly. "I will not," she breathed, voice filled with awe and… envy, wistfulness, jealousy. She met my wild gaze directly, and then deliberately turned it to someone else, leading my eyes there. "Poor Hakujou, it is already done."

Recognition shot through me. Not in the sense of words, but there all the same. And it was not a recognition to be happy about. Among those dusty memories I felt pain, humiliation, anger, hate. And they were all directed at him. A guttural growl tore from my throat. This was the man. He was important. Somehow. I just knew it. And it was his scent that filled my nose and made my stomach churn with excitement.

Aggravation coated his face as he glowered at the woman. "You have done nothing!" His back was turned to me. I could barely see his profile, and he wasn't paying attention. I drew my legs under me, tensing. "She is suffering and you-!" He turned, flinging a pointed hand in my direction, and froze.

His face. It was so familiar. Rage rose within me, crashing into my brain, and obliterated everything, even the lingering pain. A scream ripped from my throat as my face twisted and I leapt for him.

The anger vanished from his face, suddenly replaced by surprise as he dodged my ill-aimed leap. I flew over him, compensation for my new strength non-existent, and skidded over the rocky ground as I landed.

An aggravated growl rumbled from my throat as I turned, eyes locking on his pasty face.

"Kisuko." His voice was a careful mix of soothing and logical, as he tried to harden his expression at the same time his face began to pale. I growled and crawled closer, while he tried to inch away. "Relax, love, you don't know what you're doing." His tone was the epitome of calm and perfection, but I could taste the panic oozing out of him, giving him away, coating his skin with delicious scent. He extended his hands in a gesture of peace, trying to gesture me closer. "Come here, love, let me help you."

And because that was what I wanted, I obeyed, crawling to his feet and beginning to pull myself up his legs.

His panic eased, and he smiled possessively, smoothing his hand over my matted hair. "That's it, love. Everything is fine. We'll get you fed, and everything will be good as new."

His voice. I cringed, and my anger wilted. I turned my head away from him, snapping at his fingers as that horrible sound grated on my ears. I whined and buried my head against his stomach, trying to escape. I didn't want to hear it.

But he smelled… delicious. I froze, and inhaled deeply, my hold tightening around his waist until my nails dug into his soft flesh even through the cloth of his shirt.

He went rigid, and immediately yanked my head away from that tender spot. "No, Kisu. That is not for you." I tore my gaze away from his stomach, and looked up. The panic had returned to his voice, and caused the vein in his throat to jump visibly. I couldn't drag my eyes away from it. "Kisu!" His tone turned sharp, commanding, and my eyes jerked up to his.

Out of nowhere my rage returned. Him! This was him! He, who had ruined everything. "YOU!" I leapt at him, hands scrambling for his neck as I clumsily gained my feet and fell into him. I didn't even blink at the screech that was my voice, the result of my endless screaming.

He stumbled back, hands coming up just in time to stop my attempt at choking him, and again tried to sooth me with words. I opened my mouth too though, and screamed at him with wordless rage.

"NO!" I tore my hand from his grip, and pulled it back before punching him square in the jaw, overbalancing with him as it knocked him to the side. My hands finally found his throat, and they clamped on with all that I could muster. "YOU! DIE!"

He jerked away from me, breaking my hold before I could really secure it, and flung me through the air before I knew what was happening.

I skidded across the ground as I landed, tearing apart my arms and legs on the stone, but I lurched to my feet almost immediately, launching myself right back at him. Wide-eyed, he scrambled backwards, not expecting me to recover so quickly.

I hit him, and we went tumbling backwards, my hands again finding their desired position on his neck, and he landed hard on the ground, with me on top.

"YOU! YOU BASTARD!" I screamed, with us face to face, squeezing his neck as hard as I could. I wanted to snap it, break it in half, break it! I wanted to break him!

"Kisuko! Stop!" His voice struggled from between my hands, strained and thin, hands wrapping around my wrists in an attempt to keep me from crushing his windpipe.

I screamed wordlessly again, and savagely smashed his head into the ground. He went limp and I squeezed even harder, until my fingers penetrated his skin, and thin lines of blood began flowing over his perfect skin, coating my fingers, coating his hair. Automatically I bent my head to capture it with my lips, and the warm, heady taste of blood filled my mouth.

I froze, gasping inaudibly. It was… it was….

My stomach knotted with hunger.

His eyelids fluttered.

Slowly, I uncurled my fingers from his neck, letting my fingers slide out of the homes they had made themselves in his flesh. The blood rolled down his soft skin… Welcoming… Inviting… I leaned towards it slowly, intently. This was it. This was what I wanted.

He smiled at me, eyes soft and unfocused, and let out a masculine laugh. "Ahh… Kisuko. I knew you would be mine." He started to slowly sit to meet me. I growled and pushed his head into the ground again, hand smushing his face unyieldingly into the rock. He didn't struggle, just let me push him aside. My food, mine.

My lips brushed his skin tentatively, and my tongue darted out to taste him. A shudder went through me. I tasted him again, and pressed my lips over one of the puncture wounds I had created. I sucked, and my mouth filled with the delicious taste.

His body tensed, and he started to struggle again. "Kisu?" His voice was foggy, clouded by the impact of his skull against the ground. "Kisu? What are you-?"

I growled, barring my teeth as I pressed against him harder. My fingers dug into his cheek. "Mine," I snapped, and my teeth caught on his skin. "Mine," I repeated, more viciously. Mine, mine, mine!

He jerked, suddenly coming back to himself. "No! No, Kisuko! Stop it!" His arms flailed, and suddenly he was slipping from my grasp! No! I snarled, and opened my jaw. I wouldn't let him get away! He was mine! I bit, and warm blood flooded my mouth. Yes, yes, oh yes! This was what I wanted!

"Kisu! Kisu! Stop!" His hand connected with my head, beating me, trying to shove me away. I bit again, taking as much of his skin into my mouth as would fit, and secured myself. No, I wouldn't let him slid away from me…

I sucked, swallowing as much blood as I could, oblivious to everything but its taste.

He flailed, rolling, beating at me. He tried to fling me away. But I didn't care, as long as I remained attached to his neck. And as long as his blood kept flowing down my throat.

I sucked and he flailed, giving it to me faster and faster. His arms fluttered and his breathing dragged. His frantic words stopped. His eyes closed and his arms dropped, and finally… finally…

He went still.

The blood stopped coming.


End file.
